Thank you Salem-Keizer Education Foundation for your generous grant to support our learning.
As our district transitions in the Next Generation Science Standards students need to be proficient in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) related subjects. This data driven project introduces third grade students to researching skills necessary for more complex concepts they will encounter in subsequent lessons, grades, or courses. Our students, for a second year will collect daily data on precipitation (including flood data), temperature and wind direction as they form a yearly weather graph. Each month students add to a line plot graph, showing weather patterns in the community. This project will extend as a service-learning project. Our young meteorologists will provide data and photos to the citizen science site, COCAHaHs, Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, www.cocorahs.org/state.aspx?state=or.They will compare their data with other schools across the nation. This year we will expand the project though STEM applications. Students will work closely with the City of Salem, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, Audubon Society and Oregon State University to create a replica of their watershed using a stream table. They will engineer structures that reduce the impact of flooding. Young scientists will measure stream and air temperature along with water levels at Glen Creek each month. They will gather precipitation and temperature data with their families using portable rain gauges and thermometers at their homes as we explore how weather conditions can change within our residential boundaries. "STEM education is most successful when students develop personal connections with the ideas and excitement of STEM fields," states the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Students will investigate the weather relate hazard of the sun. Though the design process, young engineers will design a hat from reused, recycled or repurposed items. They will write an opinion piece and create a video on why their design may help to prevent skin cancer or eye damage due to over exposure of the sun. To add a technology component, students will take photos using a full spectrum camera to document ultra violet (UV) levels in their environment, collecting evidence and present their findings to COCAHaHs, the Glen/Gibson Creek Watershed Council, the district Science Exposition, the Oregon Green School Summit and our spring celebration of the arts. Our goal is to continue to educate students in the STEM subjects at an early age and to tie that learning into a community awareness service project. |
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