TEACHING STEAM WITH LITTLEBITS

Mr. Howard Botting, Wellwood Middle School, was the recipient of a $1,495.00 grant for littleBits classroom kits to teach an electrical unit to sixth-grade students and allow them to design, build and test their solutions to posed problems. By introducing STEAM concepts to students at a younger age, Mr. Botting hopes to spark an interest in robotics and engineering and expand the current curriculum by introducing and including a unit on electrical components.

ACTIVE LEARNING SPACES

In Ms. Karen Gibbs's third grade classroom at Enders Road Elementary, students are wiggling and wobbling their stress away on eight Hokki stools, funded by the FMEF. Hokki stools are ergonomic seats that allow students to keep moving, while seated on a stable base. Ms. Gibbs applied for a $768.08 grant to enhance her classroom's learning environment and enable students to choose the space in which they work best. "I like to use them when I am stressed out because they help me concentrate," said Sami K.

ANIMATION DOMINATION

In Mr. Matthew Six's classroom, it is lights...camera...action! Or in this case, stop motion action. Mr. Six, a Technology Education/Computer Applications teacher at Eagle Hill Middle School applied for a $699.00 grant for a DSLR camera to enhance his units of study on Adobe Photoshop; stop motion; video editing, production and animation. The students' creativity is extraordinary and under Mr. Six's guidance and tutelage, the students can channel their talent into submission for awards and competitions, as well as developing a life-long love for animation.

STEAM CREATION STATION

The students are experimenting, creating and learning with the STEAM Creation Station in Mrs. Wojnovich's classroom at Eagle Hill Middle School. With equipment and supplies totaling $2,206.86, students can engage in individualized, hands-on learning about engineering, biology, physics and math. Students will use creative problem solving skills, teamwork and outside-the-box thinking to build bridges out of straws and constructs geodesic domes out of newspaper. All Eagle Hill students will be able to participate in enrichment activities as a result of the STEAM Creating Station. Puzzles, brain teasers and math and logic game are a unique way for the whole student to learn through manipulation and experience. The STEAM Creation Station will foster skills that encourage STEAM fields of study.