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.