STEAM, a science program held last Saturday by the Kosciusko School District allowed children in grades one through three to get hands-on experience working with five different science concepts. Placed in small groups, the children spent about 40 minutes exploring each concept in a different classroom. Areas examined were as follows:
— Students learned that rubbing a balloon on their heads will make their hair stand up. They drew faces and added drops of watercolor to the top of the head and then blew the paint using a straw to resemble hair that is standing!
— Students learned how to create a simple circuit with paper circuits and also learned about chemical light and electricity.
— In the robot rotation, students completed a variety of challenges with Dash and Botley robots, including obstacle courses, visiting robot friends, collecting eggs and dominoes, spelling, launching balls and visiting zoo animals.
— Students use static electricity to make butterfly wings move up and down. Construction paper (butterfly body) was glued on top of tissue paper (butterfly wings) on a piece of cardboard. Students rubbed a balloon against their hair to create friction and then held the balloon above the butterfly wings. The charge imbalance between the balloon and the tissue caused an attraction between the two, making the butterfly wings appear to move.
— Students learned about static electricity by mixing goop (cornstarch and oil) watching it pulled off of a spoon by a balloon charged with electricity. They also separated salt and pepper using an electrically-charged balloon.
The program is set to run again for first through third graders on November 23 with a brand new set of lessons. Contact Jennie Cook at the Kosciusko School District for more information.
