To cap off this one-of-a-kind school year, we decided to work on some STEAM education for the last few weeks of school. For those that are unfamiliar, STEAM education combines Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics in one unit of study. We also like to tie our STEAM unit to a book and reading which we joke makes it STREAM :-)
The first group of students to work with STEAM was the first-grade students. We decided to tie our STEAM unit around the Frog and Toad stories. These short stories were already familiar to first-grade students from reading and writing lessons throughout the year.
For the science component, students learned about the science behind frogs jumping. Did you know that a frog has a spine that hinges to help it jump further? For the technology component, students used their iPads to capture each other jumping like frogs. The pictures were amazing!
Students then created an origami frog as their Art component. I was so impressed by the growth mindset of our group of first-grade students during a very difficult task. With our frogs created, we competed in the "Froggy Olympics." Students held their frogs proudly through the hallways as we marched to the Olympic Theme. The frogs then competed in the long jump, sprint, and high jump. Students measured time and distance as part of their Math component.
