Recently I received an email from the district about a STEM competition/fair coming soon. Having some experience with STEM from my experience in other states/districts, I decided to sign our class up!
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math. This is becoming a bigger and bigger initiative as the years go by.
Our class worked in collaborate groups to test any metal content in common cereals (an idea from the STEM Fair's list of experiments). Following the scientific process, we ground up the cereals, placed them in plastic bags, and hovered strong magnets over the cereal powder.
In the end, none of the cereals reacted to the magnets. We concluded that our magnets were not strong enough and the cereal was not ground up enough for the experiment to really work. However, we still designed and created displays of our data and findings to be showcased at the STEM Fair.
Students and family were invited to meet me there and check out all of the exhibits!
NOTE: I was very disappointed when I arrived at the fair. NOT ONE (of our 8) project boards were on display! This was very discouraging for my students. Although we had no significant findings, we still went through the scientific process at 5-6 years of age, designed our boards, and learned the significance to testing a hypothesis and concluding an experiment. We put in the time and effort and yet NOTHING was put up to show our participation except for our district's and school's informational tri-boards. I was not expecting a ribbon or placement in the competition - at the least, put up one of my class' displays (even in the corner) to inspire my kindergarteners (and other young kiddos). STEM has no age limit or creative limitations!
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