STEM Sweet STEM for the Holidays!
January 5, 2017
We’ve all celebrated with decorating cookies, singing Christmas carols, making ornaments or sipping hot chocolate while watching our favorite holiday movie. But how fun is decorating gingerbread houses with LED lights and using Garage Band to record The Twelve Days of Math Class? Students in the classrooms of Michael Kosko and Kimlona Brown did just that!
Michael Kosko’s environmental scientists embraced the two day challenge of creating gingerbread houses with a modern day twist. They created one floor structures that included three LED lights. Students that craved an extra spicy challenge had the quest of creating a two story structure or a house containing ten LED lights! Throughout the day, students were showing up with passes from other teachers allowing them to skip classroom celebrations and continue working on their gingerbread houses. “It says a lot when students decide to work on a STEM challenge when they could be watching a movie or hanging with their friends on the last day before break,” Kosko proudly shares.
Fifth and sixth graders in Ms. Brown’s class are used to writing daily reflections about their math assignments. However, the reflection just before their winter break was a bit different. Brown challenged them to collaboratively compose The Twelve Days of Math Class, which served as a review of math curriculum studied so far. Glancing back at all of their reflections, students voted on twelve math topics. Students then got busy writing and recording their song debut. The songs were recorded using Garage Band. Brown admits, “It was a learning experience for me but the students were excited!”