Flower Hill Primary School’s second graders developed a really neat project for this year’s science fair and the youngsters are impressed with their efforts.
Not unlike “Curious George” in the book, The Boat Show, the Flower Hill second graders collaborated and created a boat that carried cargo and moved by wind power across water.
“The students worked in small groups, shared their ideas, listened to each other and determined why some materials had better properties than others to stay afloat,” teacher Brenda McManus said. “The students built a boat from a variety of materials that were provided to them through the school’s science program.”
Students from Mrs. McManus’ class were joined in developing the project by youngsters studying with teacher Corin Walsh, Tiffanie Kelly and Arlette Epstein. The youngsters came to understand what the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) fields are all about and how they interact with one another.
“There were no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers,” Mrs. McManus said. “The students were allowed to use the information they acquired from previous lessons. They were given the opportunity to test and re-test their designs and they made changes if necessary. It was a great opportunity to explore a STEAM project.”
Parents were invited to visit the classroom and see what their respective child had explored. “It was a wonderful way to close the unit on the nature of matter,” Mrs. McManus said.
