STEM

What is STEM?
The simplest definition is what it stands for, which is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are an important part of education in a competitive global marketplace and at Seabury we believe in preparing our students for that marketplace. Last week the blog focused on math, this week we want to showcase science, technology and engineering. 

Our student's are well versed in the scientific method so as part of our Transitions over arching concept we will look at how technology and engineering have changed the world. In our first few encounters with engineering the Innovators immediately saw the connection between the engineering process and the scientific method.

We looked at how a computer "thinks" in a binary code, sorting information through the the use of yes/no questions.We used numbered blocks that needed to be sorted into sequential order without seeing the numbers. It was very challenging until the students began to see the patterns.

They were then "hired" by the Color Bricks Company to make toy bricks out of stuffed paper bags with very specific decorations and criteria. The first attempt was individually where the fastest time was 22 minutes (and the slowest 43).

We then talked about Henry Ford and the assembly line and the Innovators designed their own assembly line to build the bricks. The first one came off the line in 15 minutes followed by 25 more in the next half hour. A pretty impressive improvement.

The Innovators use technology daily in the classroom and this year are also learning coding. We feel really good about STEM in this fifth grade class.