Declo STEM Day

I am finally ready to post pictures and thoughts from our STEM Day for 5th graders.  A few weeks ago, we gathered an army of parents to host a day full of great classes.  I am so grateful for the presenters and chaperones and a supportive staff that made the day so worthwhile.   Power dads Joey and Jon presented for Idaho Power, we made bridges with an engineer, and glow in the dark slime was our chemistry class.  I brought microscopes for the kids to see their cheek cells, and an audiologist talked about hearing science.  The kids loved the robotics demonstration from the Declo FLL team members.  This day was supported by the Idaho Farm Bureau Womens' Committee and materials were sent from beoutsideidaho.com.  Thanks to all!!!

5th Grade STEM Day in Declo

We had another great STEM Day for our 5th graders!  This activity was created to give the students a fun and interesting day since the field trip budgets have been cut.  There were 6 classes taught by professionals and parents in STEM fields, and 20 other parents volunteered in some way!  That is great for our kids!  The classes taught were Chemistry and Ecology, by CSI instructors, EMT/Ambulance....thanks Maggie from Malta!, Robotics with the Declo HS FRC team coaches and kids, Math games with a DJHS teacher and mom, and the Physics of Flight...aka the SLING SHOT class!  The students rotated all day and finished with prizes and cottan candy.  I am so grateful for the support I received...everyone helped to pull this off!

4th Graders explore the Discovery Center of Idaho

Friday was a long wonderful day for our lucky 4th graders.  Field trips are getting harder to pull off, and in our case, the PTO pays for the whole thing, which sounds great.  But the flip side is that it is so expensive to take this one meaningful trip to Boise, that the other grades don't get field trips now.  That is a discussion for another post or audience, but I will always vote for field trips because they allow kids to have a special experience with their peers.  Last fall, I helped the teachers submit an application for the Target Field Trip Grant, and we were awarded $700 to use for this trip.   I wrote the grant specifically so we could afford to visit the Discovery Center of Idaho, the interactive Science Museum in Boise, so we were all thrilled to learn that our admission was covered thanks to a separate gift to DCI from the Scentsy Company.  All Title 1 schools in Idaho can attend free this year.  So we had a great day visiting the History Museum, which has a lot of information about Lewis and Clark, the State Capitol, and DCI.  I am grateful for all the work the teachers do to make these activities worthwhile.  80 kids from Declo will not soon forget their trip to the Big City!

May is the MONTH of Science in our schools!

I have been too busy visiting schools this week to stop and write about it.  One of the best parts of May is that teachers have time for FUN!  And I mean Science FUN!  Last Friday, I visited a HS Physics class to play with paper helicopters, magnetic kites, and squishy circuits.  They had just finished launching their rockets, and their next activity is making ice cream in a bag.

On Tuesday, I was able to see Junior High kids get awarded for poems they wrote in conjunction with Arbor Day.  Thanks to a mini-grant from Idaho Forests Products Commission, we had money for prizes and a TREE!

Today, I visited a HS physical science class because students were showing off their simple machine projects.  They were so cool!  Especially my own son's creation..."Locked and loaded." 

Finally, on Friday, the 4th graders will be traveling to Boise and one of their stops will be the Discovery Center.  I am so excited for that trip!!  So you see, while some love Halloween in October or the 4th of July or Thanksgiving in November, I love Science in May!  Especially in Declo!

Updated: Declo Science Fair with newspaper article

Wow!!  Where do I start?  The 4th and 5th grade students did such a great job on their projects.  The projects were creative and relevant, and the kids all worked hard to follow the scientific method to answer their questions.   Teachers, Staff, and Parents were supportive and proud, and the PTO volunteers were absolutely critical to the success of the Science Fair.  We had 130 projects displayed, and 8 local judges visited over 2 days to read and score all the projects.  The overall winners in 4th and 5th grade won a trip to Science Camp, and the fee was paid for by a generous donation by a parent who contacted me out of the blue to see how they could help.

http://minicassiavoice.com/community/declo-elementary-holds-science-fair/
There were teachers' choice winners and Honorable Mentions.  There were winners in Plant Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Health and Nutrition, Animals, and Scientific Method.  But there were so many great projects...I am grateful I didn't have to judge.  Way too hard!

I am so thankful for the support I received from all my friends and teachers to make this such a positive experience for the students.  Just imagine what we will see next year!

5th Grade Winner, Brinley, did a fabulous experiment with her dog.  The judges were impressed with her research and procedure.  She interviewed a dog trainer to make sure her methods would be effective.  Great job!!

This 5th grade student did his project on rockets and could not wait to launch his rocket for the class.  But the wind took it much farther than he expected...and we are still looking for it!  :(