Category: Brain Flakes

How to Catch a Turkey

11/8/2019

This week in Y5 and T1 we moved forward into our fall/Thanksgiving theme. We read How to Catch a Monster for Thanksgiving, so why not How to Catch a Turkey for Thanksgiving? The kids really enjoy these books so far and I enjoy their rhyming.

After reading our story, we dove in to building some turkey traps of our own with Brain Flakes. I have found the kids have a hard time working with these as it does work their fine motor skills, but am finding the more we use them, the less frustrated they feel. I had little plastic turkeys in which they had to build a trap to capture the turkey. There were quite a variety of traps, and some even held their turkey in so I could not pull it out! The kids had a great time building and it was great how their traps led to some imaginative stories and how they would bait their traps. The number of "gobble gobble gobble"s that I heard was too many to count!

0 Comments

Valentine's STEAM & Maker Fun

2/16/2019

0 Comments

As Valentine's Day was approaching, I was trying to select a fun STEAM activity that would really get students working together and communicating. We have had so many snow days recently and I know it takes a bit of time to get back into a regular routine. So, no time like the present to revisit how we work together to create! As I was looking for inspiration, I stumbled upon (through someone sharing on Instagram) of Brooke Brown's Maker Mats, so I knew that I had an activity - a Valentine STEAM/Maker challenge! I really liked her mats, but knew that it wasn't quite what I was looking for the activity. So, I took the concept and created my own mat. We had recently done something similar with our Winter Brick Building task cards, so I knew the students would be up for the challenge.

Download Mat Here

For this activity, I gave each group a bin containing one type of resource. They had to use only that resource to create their objects - they could not mix with the resources from other groups. I had two bins of Plus Plus blocks, two of Brain Flakes, and two of pattern blocks. Some groups appreciate having a bin of one resource to use, while others share that they feel the challenge would be much easier of they had one of the other resources. With both groups that I did this activity with, I made a point to share that it might seem easier with one of the other resources, but each resource has it's highs and lows for the challenge - some of the tasks are easier and some are harder and it is not the same for each resource.

For this challenge, I told the students they could work as a group at their table (no more than 4), or they could choose to work in two groups at their table. The students have done really well when given this option because they know that they cannot work by themselves, but they have choice in how they work. Most times they actually choose to work as a whole table! After they had selected how they would work, the students could choose any square on the mat to begin their work. I told them it didn't matter to me which one they chose or which order they went in, but they had to decide as a group and they had to have a teacher sign off before they moved on to the next square. I was a little nervous with how they would work together after several weeks of snow days here and there, but they did really well and created some great things!

This snowman was AMAZING! The students completed his look with a banana on his head, because, well, why not?

I love when students share their stories behind their creations. When I do activities like this with a class, I tell the students that they need to check in with a teacher before they can move on to the next building task. This has really helped them with thinking through their designs and not just throwing something together to move on to something else. Sometimes it is so hard to capture the thinking and demonstration that goes in their designs with just a picture. They each bring their talents and ideas to the table to work with their peers to create something new and there is such a special dynamic when you watch it all play out and see an object that has a fantastic story behind it. These STEAM and Maker opportunities may not always be tied directly to the curriculum content, but the creativity opportunity it provides opens news ways of thinking and working with others when the content comes in to play. I have to say, I am very lucky to work with amazing teachers who provide students with these learning opportunities!

0 Comments

Glow Games: STEAM Activities

5/30/2018

0 Comments

These STEAM activities were meant to complement our content Glow Games, but give the students a chance to push their collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity skills while building confidence. We set the room up in stations and students spent about 7 minutes at a station before rotating to the next (we have 50 minute class periods). Students had to start at the Level 1 Challenge, complete it, show their teacher, and then could move on to the Level 2. This was intentional as we wanted the students working together to build 1 creation, not individual creations.

All STEAM Activities

Cup Stacking

Resources Needed:

Station Sign
Neon plastic party cups (I chose 2 different colors just for fun).

Cup Stacking Sheet

Plus Plus

Resources Needed:

Station Sign
Ruler
Neon Plus Plus

Plus Plus Sheet

Wooden Planks

Resources Needed:

Station Sign
Yard Stick
Wooden Planks (I created my own from 1x2-8ft primed finger joint board. I purchased 8 - 8ft boards and cut them into 4 inch pieces. They are a bit bigger than KEVA planks, but were primed and easy to spray paint with neon spray paint. For about $50 I was able to create my own set of almost 200 neon building planks!)

Wooden Planks Sheet

Straw Builders

Resources Needed:

Station Sign
Straw Builders

Straw Builders Sheet

Qubits

Resources Needed:

Station Sign
Qubits (I used the glow in the dark Qubits, but they are not actively for sale - I contacted the company after seeing them on Instagram and they sold me some they had from a little Kickstarter they had done. I just want to give the disclosure that these are not readily available for purchase.)

Qubits Sheet

Brain Flakes

Resources Needed:

Station Sign
Brain Flakes (I tested and only some of the colors reacted better under black light than others - I only used orange, bright green, white, yellow, and light blue.)

Brain Flakes Sheet

Glow STEAM in Action

At the end of the hour, we asked students to clean up their stations and reset the classroom for the next class. Some classes were able to do this quickly and we invited them to use a highlighter to write what they loved about the day. You can tell some students were completely worn out from the fun (and heat!), but they had some great things to share.

0 Comments

Water Pollution Solutions

4/16/2018

0 Comments

I try my best to be as environmentally conscious as I can be on a daily basis (I am a big fan of recycling and reusing!), but sometimes we all could use the reminder to do a little bit more to protect our planet. I know I have been making an effort to no longer use plastic straws when dining out - it seemed weird and awkward at first, but the more I do it, it doesn't feel that way. I believe it has been said that it takes 21 days to form a habit...I don't eat out that often, but it is getting easier to simply move the straw to the end of the table and drink straight from the glass. Sometimes Earth Day is that gentle reminder each year that we can do better as long as we choose to do better about our environmental decisions.

As Earth Day fell on a weekend this year, I asked the teacher I usually work with on Fridays if an Earth Day STEM activity would fit in to anything they were doing. She told me they were actually studying animal adaptations, so it fit in well with what they were learning. I found this video that we watched about kids taking action against pollution found in the oceans. The video was very powerful and the students definitely had thoughts to share on the issue!

After watching the video and having a discussion about how pollution in the oceans has a domino effect on plants, animals, and humans, we asked the students to think about how they could come up with a solution that would help the pollution in the oceans. We gave each group of three students a tub with Brain Flakes, wooden planks, and Plus Plus and asked them to think of a way to develop a "thing" that could help solve this problem.

When the classroom teacher and I were planning this activity, we had originally wanted them to do some brainstorming before building. When I arrived for STEM time later in the day, the teacher informed me that they have spent over 3 hours that day doing state testing, so we decided to not do our brainstorming worksheet and let their brains just create. And to be completely honest, I think it was the perfect decision for the end of a Friday after a long week of state testing. They needed to explore (we hadn't used Brain Flakes, wooden planks, or Plus Plus yet in STEM activities) and have some confidence in doing what they do best - create!

Ocean Pollution Worksheet

I am so proud of what these kiddos came up with knowing how brain-drained they were at this time. They had so many great ideas! Some of the conversations I had with students included:

Utilizing large shipping boats and connecting nets or other containers around the outside of the boat to gather trash as they were traveling. When they reached their destination, they could unload their cargo and trash for recycling.
Attach nets or containers to buoys that are already placed out in the water to collect trash that is close to the shorelines.
Create floating containers that can collect trash, but also have a open/close flap so that fish do not get caught inside.
Use amphibious vehicles that give tours to people so that you can pick up trash as you tour and show much trash you have collected during a tour that can then be recycled.
Have floating containers that are connected with rope so you can easily pull them in like a fishing pole and anyone could empty the trash into recycling containers and then return the containers to the land.