Hour of Code

We live in a world surrounded by technology. We also know that whatever field our students choose to pursue as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly hinge on understanding how technology works. Yet only a tiny fraction of the students in the United States are learning Computer Science. That is why the entire BES student body  joined in on the largest learning event in history: The Hour of Code Challenge. 

Take a moment to see for yourself what the Hour of Code is all about and what the BES students thought about this amazing experience.

Programming Lego Robots

Grade 4 STEM Assembly

Have you ever built a flashlight out of a recycled plastic water bottle, a battery, some wire and a light bulb? The BES fourth grade students did just that during Friday's STEM assembly. Take a quick peek at these young electrical engineers in action!

Hour of Code

The Hour of Code is finally here and each and every BES student will have the opportunity to participate in this amazing event this week! It is time to get excited to write your Hour of Code!

Remember - you can do this at home as well. The two sites that we are using are school are code.org and Tynker. 

The December STEM Dog Home Challenge

Make sure you check out the video and directions outlining the new  December STEM Dog Home Challenge. Are you up for the challenge?

November's STEM Dog Challenge is Due!

Hi Friends-

This is STEM Dog with a friendly reminder that the results of your November STEM Dog Challenge are due by Tuesday, November 25th. 

Remember to either share your picture with me using your google drive or send your picture via email to mary.t.hansen@student.dodea.edu.

I can't wait to see your toilet paper roll structures.

The Disney Challenge

The fifth grade students have been challenged to design a theme park ride that meets a set of predetermined criteria. The students have been busy planning the ride and writing the necessary lines of code. Stay tuned for updates as the plans turn into reality and the students construct an automated prototype. In the meantime, be sure to view today's video which shows how one fifth grade class approached the initial design phase of this project!
http://grade5stem.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-disney-challenge.html

The Disney Challenge Part 1

Dear amusement park engineers,

You have been hired by the Walt Disney World corporation to design a prototype of a new amusement park ride called "It's a Bee's Life." The corporation envisions a track system where cars, shaped like bees, carry small children through a maze in search of a honey pot. They want the bees to move both forwards and backwards while making both left and right turns. In the middle of the maze, they would like the bee to pause so that the children can see an image of a 3-dimensional beehive. Since they don't want to waste time between unloading one group of children and loading the next group of children, the entrance and exit of the ride should be near each other, but not at the same point. At some point in the ride, the bee should make a complete (360 degree) rotation. The ride is designed for small children, so the duration of the ride may not exceed 40 lines of code.  The Walt Disney corporation looks forward to seeing your designs.

The Cup Stacking Challenge

Could you stack 6 cups without touching them? Watch as these fourth grade students do just that, using a rubber band, string, and lots of collaboration, cooperation, communication, and critical thinking!

Earthquake-Proof Structures

 Could you create a two story tall building using only toothpicks and marshmallows that could withstand the force of a simulated earthquake for one minute? Lakes take a peek at how the students in Mrs. Fairfax's class approached this challenge.

BES Bulldogs Program Bee-Bots!

The fourth grade Bulldogs have been programming Bee-Bots to follow some difficult paths. There were five levels of difficulty, and each level became more challenging than the level before. Each time the students wrote the correct code and the Bee-Bot completed a course, they could move on to the next level. Once the students finished all five levels, they could make up their own course for their Bee-Bot.

The hardest part about programming Bee-Bots was deciding which direction the Bee-Bot should turn, because sometimes the Bee-Bot was not facing the same direction that the programmer was facing.

The best part about programming Bee-Bots was seeing if they actually went the way you thought they would go.

Everyone had fun programming the Bee-Bots and we hope that the fourth grade students will get another chance to program the Bee-Bots!

Written By Two Bee-Bot Fans!

The Two Bee-Bot Fans (and Guest Bloggers)

21st Century Teaching and Learning

Have you ever wondered what 21st Century education looks and sounds like? Take a peek as Mr. Stone's and Ms. McCool's science classes explore the craters on the moon. I wish my fourth grade science class had been set up like this!  http://besstem.blogspot.com/

Investigating the Moon's Surface Grade 4

Ever wonder how the craters on the moon were formed? The fourth grade students are in the process of completing a series of investigations into this very questions. 

Watch as the students in Mr. Stone's class investigate whether the size of the object that hits the moon has an affect on the size of the crater.

Ms. McCool's Class has some insightful observations about the relationship between meteor size and crater size. Perhaps these are the aerospace engineers of the future!

We Have Levitation!

Several weeks ago, the fifth grade students were tasked with creating a prototype of a magnetic levitation system  that could successfully carry a load of washers.  The young transportation engineers designed and created their trains, tested their systems, took notes about what seemed to be working and what needed to be modified, and ultimately went back to the drawing board to improve their MagLev systems.  The MagLev systems went through numerous iterations, which caused some angst with our young engineers. However, after over a month of testing and redesign, the teams finally achieved success. 

Designing a Suspension Bridge Grade 5

These fifth grade students were challenged to create a suspension bridge that could support the 16 grams of weight using only a single piece of copy paper and two math books. Not a problem for our young engineers!

They were then challenged to improve their bridge so that it could hold the greatest possible weight. One team was actually able to support more than 1,000 grams using only a piece of paper and two math books. Pretty impressive!

The Bee Bots made a surprise visit to the principal's office today!

"STEM"ific Science

The S in STEM stands for Science! So what happens when science lessons take on a STEM twist? They become "STEM"ific.

The fifth grade students have been very busy learning about energy. What better way to study sound energy than to complete a STEM challenge! Could you design a musical instrument that could produce three different tones using simple supplies. These fifth graders could!

Check out some of the explorations these students completed to learn about the various types and forms of energy.

The force of gravity is amazing!

What happens if we lower the ramp?

Does the car have energy now?

This position gives the car potential energy!

Good thing we have safety glasses!

Waiting for that potential energy to turn into kinetic energy.

WOW - There is goes!

Getting ready to tap into some chemical energy!

"STEM"ified Math

The M in STEM stands for Math, so it's no wonder that STEM has found its way into the math classrooms at BES.

The fourth grade students found that the Engineering Design Process helped them complete the cup stacking challenge. The students were challenged to create the tallest freestanding tower that they could using 25 solo cups in one minute. Each partnership  measured the height of their structure to the nearest centimeter. The class then determined the minimum and maximum values of the data set, as well as the range, median, mode, and mean. So what happens when a data collection lesson turns into a STEM lesson? Lots of excitement, problem solving, and new learning takes place. Just check out the level of student engagement present on the faces of their students as they completed their math lesson.

"STEM"ology!

The T in STEM stands for Technology. Technology is anything man made that was created to solve a problem. so it is no wonder that technology is such an integral part of STEM.

The students at BES are learning the basics of computer programming as they learn to write lines of code for their Bee-Bots. Take a moment to watch this video which explains why computer programming is so important in elementary school. It is worth watching!

What does STEM stand for?

What in the world  is STEM? The acronym stands for the four STEM subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

It's important to note that STEM education is not equal

to its separate parts. Rather, it is an interdisciplinary

approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts

are coupled with real world problem based and

performance-based lessons. STEM education exemplifies

the axiom, "the whole is more than the sum of the parts.”

The Bee-Bot Programming Challenge

The fourth grade students are very excited that the Bee-Bots have arrived at BES. These little bees are actually small computers that are capable of following basic commands, such as forward, backward, left, right, turn, and pause. The students are learning the basics of computer programming and will be writing lines of code that will enable their Bee-Bots to accomplish various tasks. I can't wait to see what they can do with them.

Are YOU a Follower?

The Anemometer Challenge

September

During the month of September, the fourth grade students were challenged to design and build a working anemometer that could be used to identify the best location at B.E.S. to build a future wind turbine.

Their anemometers were tested at several different "wind" speeds generated by a fan in the classroom. It proved to be a very difficult task to create an anemometer that was remained intact and worked properly throughout all of the tests; so you can just imagine the cheers and smiles that ensued when groups of engineers to were able to accomplish this task.

October - The MagLev Challenge

The fifth grade students have been applying all that they have learned about force, motion, and energy to create a prototype of a magnetic levitation (maglev) transportation system. Maglev is fairly new mode of transportation that has unique advantages over earlier modes of transportation. Many transportation engineers believe Maglev transportation systems will radically transform society and the world economy in the 21^st century, as they are more cost efficient, energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and safer than traditional trains, planes, and cars.  The students were challenged to create a transportation system using magnetic levitation to carry a load weighing 6 grams a total distance of 12 inches. Each engineering team has gone through numerous iterations in design as they have worked through the Engineering Design Process. I can't wait to see the final products.

September - The Aid Drop Challenge

During the month of September, the fifth grade students were busy assisting FEMA as the disaster relief agency prepared for this year's hurricane season. The young engineers were challenged to develop a prototype of a parachute that could be used to drop necessary supplies into areas devastated by a hurricane. The criteria for the project required that the parachute slow the descent of the package so that the supplies could reach the ground safely, the parachute stay intact for the entire descent, and that the prototype cost under $5.00 to build. It was exciting to watch the students apply what they had learned about force and motion in their science classrooms as they planned, designed, created, and improved their parachutes.

October Challenges

October has brought about an entirely new set of challenges for the members of the STEM Club. The students have been fully immersed in the process of building LEGO Robots. I can't wait to see what they can do!