Innovation and Inspiration

Advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is a critical focus for Lockheed Martin.  In a pilot program this year, a ll of our sixth grade classrooms have partnered with Lockheed  Martin Engineers to participate in hands-on engineering design challenges.  These volunteer engineers work  with our students to educate and inspire tomorrow’s scientists, engineers and mathematicians.  Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer, Michael Grace, has been helping to coordinate the volunteer engineers and has been facilitating many of the classes himself.  This has been the first long-term partnership that Lockheed Martin has had with all 6th grade classrooms in a school district.  We are looking forward to having Lockheed Martin participate in our STEAM Showcase in May!

The 5th graders at Forest Hill turned the cafeteria into their own episode of Mythbusters!  Students selected a popular myth that they wanted to test and gather data from.  They then recorded their findings by taking pictures, video, and narrative writing.  In class, the teachers then helped students to organize their data and to share it with a public audience by creating their own Google Site.  Other students were amazed to learn about their discoveries and which of these popular myths had truly been busted by their classmates!

Visiting Josh Pizzica's 8th grade science class at Monroe Middle School is always an inspirational delight!  Last week, his students were constructing paper roller coasters as an introduction to physics of energy and motion.  Josh shared, "it's important to give students a shared experience to build background knowledge on new concepts." Josh shared that he purchased most of the materials at  http://paperrollercoasters.com/   But he also created his own questions and sentence frames to have his students discuss before and during building.

In December, students from our elementary and middle schools participated in an Hour of Code.  The Hour of Code took place during Computer Science Education Week, December 8-14.  Learning to code helps nurture creativity and problem-solving skills, and prepares students for any future career.   Below are some pictures from Hour of Code in Campbell:  The CampbellCare Coding STEAM Club at Blackford Elementary School.   Coding using Scratch during STEAM Workshop at Campbell Middle school.  Using Code.org on iPads at Monroe Middle School. Code.org at the computer lab at Rolling Hills Middle School. If you missed the Hour of Code, it's not too late to get your kids learning to code.  You do not need to know how to code to teach your students about it.  There are many online and offline coding resources at code.org and http://www.cs-first.com/