STEAM club started this year (October 2019) at Roosevelt Avenue Elementary School! If you are new to the idea of STEAM the acronym stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math.
Andrea Bolton (the Librarian/ Media Specialist) and I, have started some fun projects for students who wish to participate every Tuesday in my art room.
Kindergarten through 5th grade can participate, but isn’t mandatory. Steam club runs for 20 minutes, once a week. Short timeframe for sure to do activities, but we see the same students each week for 4 weeks for the younger grades, and we see the same students for 5th grade for 6 weeks, so projects can continue the following week(s) if necessary.
We have a K-2 (20 minute) steam activity block and then a 3rd-5th (20 minute) steam activity block each Tuesday.
Here’s how it works…..
Every Tuesday, during the K-2 recess, which is from 12:00-12:20pm, either just Kindergarten, just 1st grade or just 2nd grade participate in STEAM club. Andrea and I decided to work only with one grade level at a time, so currently, only 2nd graders join us during that time. 10 students total for the duration of 4 weeks.
At Roosevelt, there are 2 classes per grade level. We ask the 2 classroom teachers of that grade, to choose 5 students each that want to participate (so totaling 10 students). Once the 4 weeks are up, the 2nd grade teachers select another 5 students from each class. Once the next 4 weeks are up, it repeats selecting a new group of 10 students total until we have seen all kids in that grade level that want to participate.
So as of now, we are on our last group of (10) 2nd graders and we will have a NEW group of (10) 1st graders beginning Tuesday February 4th. We’re working backwards from 2nd grade to Kindergarten.
So far, Andrea and I have taught steam projects that only require 20 minutes to complete for 2nd graders. Some are collaborative/team based projects, and other projects we have done, kids create individually.
Tuesday’s, during the 3rd-5th grade recess, (which is from 12:40-1pm), only just 3rd grade, just 4th grade or just 5th grade participate in STEAM club. Like I mentioned above, we decided to stick with just one grade level at a time for each block starting with the higher grades working backwards, so currently, only 5th graders join us during that time. Ten 5th graders total, (5) from each class, and their 5th grade teachers select students who want to participate as well. The only difference with 5th grade is the same 10 students see us for STEAM club for 6 weeks rather than 4 weeks. This is because we wanted to teach 5th grade about STOP-MOTION ANIMATION which takes a bit longer to create! 5th grade students stop-motion videos below!!
During those 6 weeks we saw each group of ten 5th graders, students focused on creating a stop-motion video using iPads with the stop-motion app, and LEGOS! We split them up into two teams of 5 working together to create their videos. They could create whatever they wanted and had so much fun creating their LEGO stop-motion videos! Check them out below!
5TH GRADE STEAM PROJECTS: LEGO STOP-MOTION ANIMATION
Here’s some pics of kids working on their stop-motion animations!
The last group of 5th graders have started creating their LEGO creations and will finish up Tuesday February 11th, just before February break! After that, we will move onto STEAM club for 4th grade February 25th!
Here’s some STEAM projects we’ve been working on with 2nd Grade!
2ND GRADE STEAM PROJECTS:
CHATTERPIX
Andrea showed students how to use a fun app on the iPad called Chatterpix that makes any picture you take speak! Students each drew a picture, then took a photo of it with the iPad. Then using Chatterpix, drew a line across where they wanted their drawing to speak in their photo of their artwork, and recorded their voice. Their drawings came to life, playing back their recording! And if they didn’t like their recording, they could just re-record! Kids loved it!!
I wish I took videos of this, but at least there’s photos below!
TOWER OF CUPS
2nd graders were placed into 2 teams of five, to work together for this fun, yet challenging, team building project!
The goal was to work collaboratively to stack, and build a tower of 6 cups (3 on the bottom, 2 in the middle, and 1 on top!) without touching the cups with their hands or feet! HOWEVER, because it’s a bit of a challenge not to knock cups over, if a cup falls, teams could pick up the fallen cup from its side and place face down again, to be able to continue.
In order to move the cups, they used a rubber band with 5 pieces of yarn tied to it, evenly spaced apart. (pics below)
Standing in a circle, students held onto the end of their yarn and by pulling the yarn (making the rubber band expand) or releasing the yarn (making the rubber band tighten up and get smaller) the rubber band would wrap around and grasp the cup, or release the cup to stack it!
To prep ahead of time, I tied (5) 24″ yarn pieces around each rubber band (1 for each team). I placed 6 plastic cups face down randomly on the floor for each team. After demonstrating with a group how it works, they got the picture and couldn’t wait to start!!
To make it a friendly competition, whichever team could build a tower of 6 cups first….wins!
Here’s a pic of the rubber band with yarn so you get a better idea and photos of kids working together to create their tower of cups!
One student was absent that day so we were short a team member. Andrea joined that team as I took photos!
It was pretty tricky!!!
Tower of Cups was a project I discovered via Pinterest from The Water Lily Way
RAINBOW PAPER
This activity goes super fast! So PERFECT for just 20 minutes to create!
I placed a large, shallow tinfoil tray (turkey roasting pan size) with water filled 1/2 way up, on the middle of a table. Students dipped a sheet of black construction paper into the tray of water, making sure it was fully submerged.
Then dropped 3-4 droplets of clear nail polish (I know! Stinky! We had the windows in the art room open for this project!! ) into the water. After a few seconds (you want to do this quick!) kids took a corner of the paper and pulled it out of the water and set to dry in the drying rack.
FYI: The rainbow patterns are more visible on the paper once the paper dries, which only takes about 5 minutes. Especially if you tilt the paper next to a sunny window!
Students each took a turn dropping the nail polish in the water, and pulling their own rainbow papers. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take any other photos since the project moved so quick!
THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The nail polish creates a thin layer of colorful film that floats on top of the water. This is called thin-film interference.
It’s a natural occurring phenomenon and also happens when oil mixes with water on the road on a rainy day, and on soap bubbles! You can read a more detailed explanation of Thin-Film Interference on Wikipedia HERE.
I discovered this fun rainbow paper project via Science Kiddo
SOLAR PRINTED SNOWFLAKES
Solar prints like these take a bit of patience to see the final results, BUT is a fun science project that demonstrates the power of the sun’s rays!
To create them, students each received a sheet of printer paper, cut out a large circle and folded in half 3 times, creating a cone shape.
(I traced the top of a large plastic container to create the circle for each student ahead of time)
They cut out small shapes from all 3 sides of their folded paper.
And then carefully opened it up, revealing their cut paper snowflake!
These snowflakes were then taped onto sheets of 12 x18″ colored construction paper (I stuck a few loops of scotch tape on the back of each one) and then taped them to the window in the art room (snowflakes facing out).
After about 2-3 weeks, I took the papers down (More like 3 weeks! We had quite a few cloudy days!!) and carefully pulled the snowflakes off the paper. The suns rays penetrated the colored construction paper and faded it everywhere except where the white paper snowflake was!
THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT: This is caused by a chemical reaction. The sun’s UV (ultraviolet) rays break down the pigment (color) of the colored paper. The ultraviolet radiation from the sun’s rays discolors the paper wherever sunlight hits. The areas where the snowflake covers the colored construction paper, prevents /blocks those UV rays from discoloring the paper!
Check this link out on the snowflake activity above along with other ones HERE!
For quicker results, try this out with Solar printing paper! To learn more about Solar Printing paper , I found a great link HERE!
PENNY SPINNERS
To create these in 20 minutes, I did a little prep ahead of time for students. I cut out the center circles from 2 white paper plates and hot glued them together. Make sure you only add hot glue around the edges, not the center.
I tried using just one plate, but it ended up being too flimsy to spin right, after drawing with markers on it. Two plates glued together worked!
So after gluing the plates together, I pre-cut a small slice using an X-acto blade in the center for all of them. (1 spinner for each student, so I used 20 plates).
Students could color their circles (spinners) any way they wanted with markers.
Once colored, we gave each student a penny to put in the center slice of their spinners. It’s important to have the penny come out halfway on the top, and halfway on the bottom.
Then spin!!
Kids loved it!!
After a few times spinning fast, the penny can sometimes dislodge so we added a touch of hot glue to the penny where it meets the center of their spinner on both sides to keep in place.
In the blue and yellow spinner photo above, I was showing kids how adding two primary colors (blue and yellow for instance) could appear as a secondary color (green in this case) if spun fast enough! They thought it was such a cool illusion!!!
THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT: Our eyes can’t focus on just one section of color when spinning so fast, so the two colors mix (or appear to mix!) creating another color!
I found this fun penny spinner activity HERE !
GLITTER JARS
Glitter.
Pretty much my LEAST favorite material to work with in art. BUT… since we had it fairly contained to a cart top, and only 10 students were working with it to create their glitter jars, I survived.
Plus, I must admit, they were quite enjoyable and calming to watch afterwards!
I prepped the jars and glitter before students arrived. Clear glue was poured about 1/2 way up each jar. The caps were screwed back on and various glitter was poured into separate bowls with plastic spoons for scooping.
When students arrived, we showed them example glitter jars that were made ahead of time. Turning them upside down, seeing all that glitter sparkle, and knowing that they could take them home, students of course were THRILLED and couldn’t wait to make one!!
Each student could scoop 5 spoonfuls of glitter into their jars. We had 5 kids at a time come up to the cart to add their glitter. After glitter was added, Andrea helped kids add water from the art room sink, while I helped the other 5 students with their jars. Water was added so it almost went to the top, with a little wiggle room in the bottle for water/glue/glitter to move around. I put a ring of hot glue around the inside of each cap and screwed back on tightly, just to make sure it was leak proof before students took them home.
2nd graders LOVED them! And what kid doesn’t like a bit of sparkle?!?
THE SCIENCE BEHIND IT: The reason the glitter moves slowly is due to the clear glue in the bottle that’s mixed with water. Glue has a thick consistency and slows down the glitter as it moves!
Interesting note about glitter: After doing a little research online about glitter, and why we are attracted to it, I found an interesting article that mentioned a theory.
To quote the article I came across, “our attraction to sparkle is derived from an innate need to seek out fresh water.”
Makes sense to me! Water sparkles in the sunlight, and we need to drink water in order to live.
If you’d like to check out that article click HERE
Also- I’ve read on a couple sites that if you add a squirt of baby oil to your jar, it can give a slower moving “galaxy” kind of effect! If you’re reading this and haven’t made one with the addition of baby oil yet, try it out and let me know how it worked!
COLOR HUNT
Students were grouped into 2 teams of 5 students. The goal for this project was for each team to find things in my art room that were either COOL colors, or WARM colors, and take photos of the objects/images with an iPad. One team had warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows, pinks) and one team had cool colors (blues, purples, greens). The team that found and took the most photos of their color scheme won! They had about 15 minutes to take photos after directions were given, and off they went! Both teams took A TON of photos!!
There were just about 10 or so more photos that one team captured than the other, so it was a CLOSE CALL! BUT, we emphasized that it was more about helping each other out / working collaboratively, and having FUN rather than winning! They had a great time doing it AND I think the activity helped with “locking away” what the warm and cool colors were because it was so engaging!
PAPER TOWERS
This was a fun team building project that I’ve done with 5th graders before on the very first day of art class and I wanted to re-create it but with a few changes.
We had 2nd graders get into 2 teams (5 each team) at a table in the art room. A stack of construction paper that was, lets just say “less likely to use/old and discolored” was placed in the center of their tables. The goal was to create the tallest tower (or somehow structure) of paper only using their bare hands. No tape. No scissors. No nothin! Just their hands and some ingenuity!
Teams had about 10 minutes to construct and create the tallest paper tower!
Students created volume by crumpling up the paper at first and piling the crumpled papers on top of each other. Soon enough the crumpled papers tumbled and wouldn’t stay because they discovered a lack of support and balance. BUT they knew in order to create volume, they needed to manipulate and crumple up the papers! They were definitely onto something!!
Papers were feverishly crumpled and some were cast aside, falling on the floor, as time was ticking away! It was getting close to the final minutes! Both team’s crumpled up/ bent pieces of paper were tumbling and towers were losing height! But they both persevered and picked them back up and tried again!
The two teams worked on balancing crumpled, and layers of flat papers that were in the shape of a pyramid (ish) to achieve the weight balance ratio, and soon enough……. time was UP! THEY DID IT!!
Both teams had quite a good height on their paper towers, and after measuring them there was one tower that was just a few inches taller!
2nd graders had so much fun during this fast paced team activity! I wish I had photos of this too, or a video, but might have to do this one again with another group down the road!
MAKING CLAY!
Kiddos in 2nd grade all had their hands in creating their very own homemade air dry clay! It was a sticky mess at first! But then became a soft smooth white clay they took home and could make whatever they wanted with it!
I found the recipe on Pinterest from kitchentableclassroom.com !
I found almost all the ingredients needed (besides cornstarch) at the DollarTree.
We doubled the recipe ingredients so it would make more, so the run down of ingredients and directions looked like this
Students took a piece of folded paper from the bowl which had 1 ingredient written on it, then measured and added to the bowl. Each student had a chance to stir all the ingredients together and after separating into smaller sections, each student kneaded their clay on the table with additional cornstarch until soft and smooth!
Kids had so much fun making it, and each took about a “lime” size chunk home in a ziplock baggie!
JUUUsst enough time for a 20 minute STEAM project!
ROBOT TIME!
4th Grade students had a blast programming mini robots (Ozobots) that can be programmed to move a certain way by using a specific color drawn on paper or on the ipad.
The Ozbots could spin in circles, move forward, backward, move fast or slow, and blink certain colors depending on the Ozobot’s codes and paths of color were created! Students used regular washable markers on copy paper to draw lines of color as well as on the ipad to test these options out for the bot to move on. So cool!
MORE STEAM ACTIVITIES WILL BE ADDED HERE PERIODICALLY THROUGHOUT THE SCHOOL YEAR!
Some other ideas we might do for STEAM club are making shaving cream marbled paper, creating structures with clay and toothpicks, growing plants/ or from seeds, making simple musical instruments, and making crystals!! ….. If you have any ideas please share. I’m always looking for fun, creative, engaging projects for steam club. You can either send me an email (contact page) or click on the comment box on my “Contact” page.
AND FINALLY.…… If you haven’t followed this amazing YouTuber Mark Rober yet (Former NASA engineer. Current YouTuber and friend of science.) You should check him out!! He has a ton of amazing videos!! Highly recommend.
