STEAM at The Country School

Click on the link:  http://lowerschoolsteam.blogspot.com/2017/12/got-minute.html?m=1

Good luck to our two robotics teams! The Wise Guys and Archimedes Owls teams are competing today in the First LEGO League robotics competition at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. They've been practicing all fall, and at All School Meeting yesterday, they gave us a preview of some of their research. This year's theme is finding a solution to the world's water challenges, and members of the Archimedes team shared a skit about creating potable water from salt water. Members of the Wis e Guys team talked about the interview they conducted with a water specialist at the Connecticut Department of Health and how they decided they could contribute by creating a fuel efficient car that runs on a resource we have plenty of: salt water. Using a copper sheet, salt water, a rubber insulator, and an aluminum can, they demonstrated how power can be generated simply and without using fossil fuels. "Think about it," one team member said. "Instead of buying expensive...

Full STEAM Ahead in 2nd Grade The 2nd Graders wrapped up their Colonial Days STEAM experience by inviting parents to come and celebrate their learning. We traveled back to the 1600s to share what life was like for the colonists in the New World. A big part of this experience was the outdoor education component where the children built a colonial settlement.  The children had to work cooperatively to decide where to build their homes and how they would construct them.  This took a lot of teamwork, flexibility, and communication. Writing with a feather and ink Mrs. Hornyak came in to teach us how to make Jacob's ladders. Sharing in the colonial village Our field trip to The Mystic Seaport paper quilts, natural dyes and sharing our work   Thank you for going on this journey with us!

The Elmore Leadership Expo began on the patio of the Farmhouse in the summer of 2015 with the 6th Grade English and history teachers. The students had read biographies before, and the English and history studies have also been closely related thematically, but we decided to take our usual lessons to the next level. Knowing that our country was gearing up for a presidential election and that we as a community emphasize the importance of leadership, marrying the two ideas was quite easy. That summer morning, we put a date on the calendar for our first Elmore Leadership Expo and committed ourselves to the endeavor. This is our third Elmore Leadership Expo, and each year the students impress us with their determination, enthusiasm, and creativity. They have been working on this project in science, history, English, music, math, and art. And this year we have put a unique spin on the their topic of choice. Their 21st Century issues have to be related somehow to eith...

In their classrooms, the science lab, and the art studio, the third and fourth grade classes collaborated to study Long Island Sound through a STEAM lens. With a strong commitment to environmental learning and stewardship, each class took the lead on different aspects of the study. The third graders learned about population sampling methods and tide pool taxonomy, the fourth graders learned about water testing methods and tools, and both classes used iPad apps to observe and discuss real time, technical tide and weather data from the NOAA buoys in the Sound.             On the Grass Island field trip, the third graders conducted population sampling and field explorations while the fourth graders used thermometers, hydrometers and chemical testing strips to measure water temperature, salinity and nitrite and nitrate levels in the Sound’s water. Both groups recorded their data, discussed their results and made plans to c...

We spent 4 weeks working on investigating, re-engineering, and building a prototype in order to solve a current environmental engineering problem in our TCS community. The prototype solution must embrace environmental concepts of sustainability, conservation of energy, and reduction of carbon footprint. The project entailed writing a detailed lab report, an oral presentation, and designing a marketing pamphlet to accompany the prototype. Below are some pictures of our poster presentation share-out, where members of the TCS community and parents are invited to hear about the projects from the 7 th Graders. Salt water power desalination device (Jackson C., Katie R.) Cost benefit analysis of installing solar panels at TCS (Elke Z., Joe M., Megan Flynn) Redesign TCS cafeteria into an eco-friendly space: Green Cafeteria (Margaux S., Kami B.) Salt water powered car (Mack B., Erik H.)

Monday, November 13, 2017 Grades 7 + 8 : "Manure Engineering" presentation: How much manure we have in the world (Did you know that one cow produces about 150 lbs of waste a day?)   How engineers are designing new forms of energy that use manure to its advantage.  Engineers are turning manure into reusable plastic and electricity. "Van de Graaf" demo: a device that creates static electricity. The purpose is to show the students a general idea of what power and electricity is, and how it works. Grade 6 : "Engineering a Safer World" presentation: A look at different safety features, how safety features work, and why it matters particularly in vehicles.  A look at how and why engineers "overengineer" things. "Egg Drop" demo: the students were challenged to keep an egg from breaking when dropped by designing safety devices with straws, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, plastic cups, etc. Tuesday, Nov...