Progressive Ed Moments | Orchard Third Graders Engineered Impressive Hands-On Projects In STEM Class

In third grade STEM class, The Orchard School students often do engineering projects that tie in with their social studies units. 
 
See the pictures below to observe Orchard’s STEM Coordinator Nate Mylin working with third graders on culminating “green” engineering projects that help prepare them for their upcoming social studies unit called, Green Cities. In progressive education style, students voted to choose their class project. 

Read more about each class and see pictures below!
 
Mrs. Underwood’s class built a SOLAR HEATER to warm the Orchard hoop house in the winter months. Students painted soda cans black and arranged them in a plexiglass covered frame, which they attached using recycled vacuum tubes to the hoop house. 
 
Mrs. Driskell’s class constructed three AQUAPONICS systems, two for the STEM classroom and one larger 50-gallon system for Orchard’s new greenhouse. Aquaponics involves growing plants without soil, with fish or other creatures introduced to the system to provide nutrients for the plants. 
 
Mrs. Starlin’s class engineered a RAINWATER COLLECTION SYSTEM for the hoop house. They created blueprints on GoogleDraw, measured inside and outside of the hoop house, and used the Orchard wood shop to make final measurements and use the saws to cut the PVC piping. They used drills and screwdrivers to hang the system on the outside of the hoop house and connect it to the large water storage tank which they discovered on our property and put back into usage.

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    • Rainwater Collection System

      Third graders use the drills from the wood shop to secure their PVC pipe gutters to the Orchard hoop house.

    • Rainwater Collection System

    • Rainwater Collection System

      Here students practice the green skill of reusing, taking a piece of flexible gutter from a storage barn to use for their hoop house rainwater collection system.

    • Rainwater Collection System

      Connecting the flexible gutter attachment to the rainwater collection tank.

    • Rainwater Collection System

    • Rainwater Collection System

      Tight squeeze here as this third grade student attaches the hose to the rainwater collection tank to bring water into the hoop house.

    • Aquaponics

      Students washed stones to place at the bottom of the tank, they measured and drilled holes in the mats for rockwool to hold seeds of basil, lettuce and cilantro. Today was the day to put the seeds into the floating mats and introduce the fish to the system.

    • Aquaponics

    • Aquaponics

    • Aquaponics

      After their Aquaponics work, the group checked on their plant development. This botany connection ties in with a social studies unit on Indiana history. Students planted the “three sisters” - corn, beans, and squash. They record observations regularly in their STEM journals.

    • Aquaponics

    • Aquaponics

    • Solar Heater

      Third graders meet with Orchard's Outdoor Education Coordinator Diana Shellhaas to construct the final pieces of the unit.

    • Solar Heater

    • Solar Heater

      Completing the final touches to their solar heater by sealing up the cracks with caulking.

    • Solar Heater

      Mr. Mylin tells the students, “Many hands make light work!”, as these third graders transport their completed solar heater to the Orchard hoop house.

    • Solar Heater

    • Solar Heater

      The final step: positioning their solar heater to face south - the position for maximum sun exposure.

    • Solar Heater