Exploring With New Gadgets

       Today STEAM Punks got to explore with new gadgets.  We set up three stations, allowing makers to explore at each for 15 minutes.  The first station was equipped with Makey Makeys. I encourage you to check out the following link: Video About Makey Makey. The second station was Code.org. Finally, at the last station, makers were able to explore through Legos, Goldieblocks, and other building materials. They were asked to come create something useful.  Check out what they came up with!

Guest Speaker

Our STEAM Punks Club has partnered with professors from MU to build and foster a love for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math within our makers. Today, we were visited by one of our partners. Mrs. Annie Arnone from NASA discussed the world of engineering. We learned that engineers are regular men and women who want to make the World great! Our mission for the day: Solve a life problem through the use of magnets.

Paper Roller Coasters

Thursday was our second creation session with our makers, and they were excited! We presented makers with a question: How could you work with a group to design a roller coaster that amusement parks would want to purchase for their own parks? What is going to be unique about your roller coaster?

Preparation: We purchased a template that assisted students in building columns, beams, supports and more. Using Card Stock (stronger than normal paper), we copied all of the templates off on different colored paper according to the piece it was labeled. A big shout out to Mrs. Hand for helping us prepare the materials! Makers were broken into groups, and each group was given the same materials.

Let the Creations Begin: Makers took charge! They worked together to decide whether they wanted the tallest, widest, loopiest, roundest (etc.) roller coasters.  Given foam board, they set out to divide and conquer. Some worked on building the paper beams, columns, and supports while other shaped the foundation to fit their unique roller coaster. Leadership and teamwork took place without teacher prompting. What a neat experience to watch!

The makers will be working on their paper roller coasters over the next few weeks. We will keep you posted on their progress! :)

Parent Information

Two surveys went home with your maker today. One is a parent survey (to be filled out by you), and the other is a student survey (to be filled out by your maker). Please complete and return to Mrs. Chambers or Mrs. Beck by next Thursday. Our next creation session will be Thursday, September 22, 2016, from 3:15-4:15. We will be starting paper roller coasters!

International Dot Day - 1st Creation Session

Today was our first creation session, and we were able to kick it off to a GREAT start with International Dot Day! Mrs. Chambers and I read The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds. This book has a wonderful message. Throughout the story, a little girl is asked to make a picture. However, she has no idea where to begin. Her teacher encourages her to just make a mark. The little girl makes a dot, and the teachers asks her to sign the painting at the bottom. As the book continues, the girl makes several new marks, and by the end, has a large art collection. The theme of the story is to make your own mark on the world. So, today we did just that! We made our own dot/mark. Makers had 40 minutes to use the Makerspace supplies in the classroom to make their own dot. They also made their own "mark" on our first ever STEAM picture frame! We hope you enjoy the pictures below. :)

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds (left)



Making our own marks! (below)

Welcome to the Central STEAM Punks blog. Here you will find important information for parents and creative creations by students. We are excited for our first creation session: Thursday, September 15, 2016.