Welcome Back!

 The 2023-24 school year is here!  I look forward to seeing all of our students in the STEM Lab soon!

NJSLA Testing - May 8-26

 3rd - 6th graders will take the NJSLA in math, ELA, and science (5th)

This Week in the STEM Lab - May 1-5

Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grade - Students will have a "choice" lesson where they get the opportunity to choose from three previous programs/websites to spend more time with.

6th Grade Project - Soda Bottle Rockets - Students will design and build a soda bottle rocket with the goal of improving upon the design of a plain soda bottle.  Student-built rockets will be launched on Friday with the hangtime measured in seconds.

This Week in the STEM Lab - April 24-28

3rd Grade - Students will have an opportunity to continue to work on their houses in Minecraft from the Area & Perimeter project.

4th Grade Project - Photo Editing - Students will learn how to edit photos: first, by taking a picture of themselves and inserting another background; and second, by removing objects from a picture and replacing the space left behind.

5th Grade - Students will have the opportunity to try our new flight simulators from the Civil Air Patrol.

This Week in the STEM Lab - April 17-21

Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd Grade - Students will celebrate National Robotics Week by discussing various "Robot All Stars" and then programming a Sphero Indi.

3rd Grade Project - Area & Perimeter in MinecraftEdu - Students will design and build a house in Minecraft as they practice using math concepts.

This Week in the STEM Lab - April 3-6

1st Grade - Students will explore a virtual world and complete challenges in MinecraftEdu.

2nd Grade - Students will get to drive the top 5 racetracks in the class as well as receive their certificate and rank from the engineering project.

3rd Grade - Students will begin planning for the upcoming area and perimeter project in Minecraft Edu by designing a house on paper first.

4th Grade - Students will work together in small groups to design and build a bridge in MinecraftEdu.

This Week in the STEM Lab - March 27-31

Kindergarten - Students will design their own egg using Tux Paint.

1st Grade - Students will navigate a virtual world in MinecraftEdu.

2nd Grade Project - Engineering - Students will use the Engineering Design Process to build and test a working racetrack in TrackMania.

This Week in the STEM Lab - March 23-24

4th Grade - Students will use paint markers to add color to their custom designed 3D printed bookmarks.

5th Grade - Students will use Tinkercad to create custom designed 3D printed bubble wands.

This Week in the STEM Lab - March 13-16

Kindergarten/1st Grade - Students will continue working on their code.org courses.

2nd Grade - Students will begin the first day of our upcoming Engineering Project.

3rd Grade - Students will design and build a labyrinth in Minecraft Education.

4th Grade - Students will finish designing their bookmark to be 3D printed.

This Week in the STEM Lab - March 6-10

Kindergarten - Students will build and test a working roller coaster using the "Disney Coaster" program.

2nd Grade - Engineering Unit - Students will build and fly a plane using "Simple Planes".

3rd Grade - Students will prepare for a future project by completing the tutorial world in MinecraftEdu.

4th Grade - Students will design their own custom bookmark to be 3D printed using Tinkercad.

5th Grade - Students will practice what they've learned about volume in math using MinecraftEdu.

Tinkercad

Bishop

Bustard/Roesch

Cornell

O'Kane

This Week in the STEM Lab - February 27-March 3

Kindergarten - Students will once again visit the "LEGO Wall" and listen to a book that will inspire them to build their new creations for the wall.

1st Grade - "Build Something That..." Project - Students will rotate through four challenges: building LEGO boats that float and hold weight, building straw towers that stand on their own, building structures out of marshmallows and toothpicks that can withstand an "earthquake", and building to specific criteria using Rigamajig.

2nd Grade - Engineering Unit - Students will build paper airplanes and test to see which flies the furthest.

This Week in the STEM Lab - February 21-24

It's National Engineers Week!  All classes this week will rotate through four stations:

Civil Engineering - Build with Rigamajig, K'nex, or Connetix

Software Engineering - Program a Sphero robot through a maze

Electrical Engineering - Create a circuit with Snap Circuits

Mechanical Engineering - Build something that moves with IQ KEY

This Week in the STEM Lab - February 13-16

Kindergarten - Students will continue to practice mouse skills with various winter-themed activities.

100 Snowballs

Make a Snowman

Snowflake Maker

1st Grade - Students will continue the previous lesson when they learned how to create a 3D design.  Students will paint their finished 3D prints and continue to design on Tinkercad.

2nd Grade - Students will use the Engineering Design Process to continue last week's lesson on virtually building a roller coaster with the challenge of creating the longest coaster using only one chain lift.

This Week in the STEM Lab - February 6-10

1st Grade - Students will use Tinkercad to create a 3D design of their name.

2nd Grade - Students will use the Engineering Design Process and Disney Coaster to build and test a working roller coaster.

3rd Grade - Students will revisit both Tinkercad (VIDEO) and their code.org courses.

4th Grade - Students will use Crazy Machines to solve challenges and learn about chain reactions.

6th Grade - Social Studies Minecraft Project - Students will finish working on their civilization while they simulate what they've learned about ancient civilizations.

Tinkercad

King

Martin

Massagli

Stamelos/Warker

This Week in the STEM Lab - January 30-February 3

Kindergarten - Students will use Hot Wheels track to create a ramp to test which car will roll the furthest.

2nd Grade - Students will use the Engineering Design Process and Hot Wheels track to create a ramp to test which cars can make it around a loop.

5th Grade - Video Editing Project - Students will learn various video editing techniques: stop motion animation, green screen, and computer animation.  Students will create videos using these techniques.

This Week in the STEM Lab - January 23-27

Kindergarten - Students will continue to practice mouse skills and problem solving using Crayon Physics.

1st Grade - Students will learn how to navigate a virtual world in Minecraft Education.

2nd Grade - Students will continue using the engineering design process in building LEGO towers.

3rd Grade - Students will learn about circuits and electronics using Snap Circuits.

4th Grade - Students will learn about digital citizenship using Nearpod.

5th Grade - Students will attempt to fold the paper airplane that flies the furthest.  VIDEO VIDEO2

This Week in the STEM Lab - January 17-20

Kindergarten - Students will use Tux Paint to practice mouse skills and create art.

1st Grade - Students will use LEGO to construct the tallest tower possible.

2nd Grade - Engineering Unit - Students will complete various challenges in "Bridge Constructor".

3rd Grade - Students will discuss cyberbullying and digital citizenship.

4th Grade - Students will learn how to build and fly the best paper airplane.  VIDEO

5th Grade - Students will continue to solve various puzzles and challenges in "The Witness".

This Week in the STEM Lab - January 9-13

2nd Grade - Engineering Unit - Students will learn about what makes bridges strong and then build their own bridge out of LEGO that can span a "river".

3rd Grade - LittleBits Project - Students will learn about circuits and build various "inventions" through the use of LittleBits.

Family Tech Night - Thursday, January 12 - 6:00-7:30 pm

This Week in the STEM Lab - January 3-6

Happy New Year!

Kindergarten - Students will begin working on their code.org course to practice programming.

1st Grade - Students will use our Rigamajig set to build their own creation.

2nd Grade - Students will begin our engineering unit where they learn how to solve problems through various challenges.

3rd Grade - Students will learn about circuits as we begin our project with Littlebits.

4th Grade - Students will practice teamwork using Minecraft Education Edition.

5th Grade - Students will use problem solving to advance through various challenges in "The Witness".