STEM class returns to 8th grade for 21 - 22
As the middle school continues to return to some normalcy our students are enjoying exploratory classes again this year. Students are currently in our third of four classes students rotate through. Our sixth graders have opportunities to take Study Skills, Nutrition and Fitness, Exploratory Science and Art. Our 7th graders have opportunities to take Health, Civics, Young Adult Literacy and Art. Our 8th graders have opportunities to take Financial Literacy, Art, Health and Stem. Below is a brief explanation of our Stem class with student quotes. Thanks to all our staff for making these classes a great experience for our students 21 -22.
STEM exploratory aims to provide students opportunities to infuse STEM, or should I say STEAM, (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) into students' learning. It also gives students a chance to explore other areas of science and technology (design challenges, robots, coding, etc.) which are not found in the HBRMS curriculum. The students will design, problem solve, measure, and explore how STEM is used in the real world. The class relies heavily on the student’s ability to follow directions and problem solve.
During the first week, students take a STEM interest survey. They will then explore what career fields STEM is used in.
The rest of the quarter students partake in different tasks:
Task 1- Stop Motion Animation using Legos
Task 2- Photo editing
Task 3- Robotic Coding with Cue Bot or Sphero
Task 4- Building and Robotic Coding with Lego Mindstorm
Task 5- Engineering Design challenges
Task 6-Trebuchets
The students have a goal to complete at least 4 tasks if time allows.
Student quotes about STEM Class -
I like interactivity, and being able to build and create things which lets me use my mind. The class was fun but wished it lasted longer. J. Williams 8th grade
I like that this class is all about student choice in the different projects throughout the quarter. My favorite part is using the trebuchet we built to shoot eraser at Mr. Sidman. C. Smith 8th grade
I like being able to work with other classmates throughout and that our creativity is allowed to be part of the different projects. E. Garcia 8th grade
Building the robots and being collaborative with friends is my favorite part of Stem class. E. Yankle 8th grade
My favorite part of Stem was the water boat activity because it was a lot of trial and error to figure out the activity. S. Hutchinson 8th grade
Working on my boat with my friends was my favorite activity. I. Cantrall 8th grade
Coding and robotics was my favorite part. We worked as a team to program our Q-bot to get through a maze and it finally worked after a couple of weeks! A. Korneder 8th grade
Jason Sidman
HBRMS Science/STEM teacher
