“An Electrifying Day” STEM-a-Thons were held on October 23rd and November 2nd at White Oaks Elementary and Shelton Park Elementary respectively. Developed and presented by the STEM Education Alliance and funded through the Operation PRIDE grant, these student-centered days were a huge success.
Each STEM-a-Thon served the entire fifth grade at the hosting schools. Throughout the day, students traveled to different classrooms to participate in engaging activities that revolved around the theme of electricity. These hands-on, minds-on activities included:
- Discovering how to make series and parallel circuits using wires, bulbs and batteries.
- Identifying insulators and conductors.
- Building an electromagnet from a wire and nail.
- Creating with Snap Circuits kits.
- Gathering data about magnet strength.
Each participating child was given a circuit kit and an electromagnet kit. In addition, several large Snap Circuits kits were given to each elementary school for future use by their teachers.
Students were treated to “Lunch with an Engineer” at each STEM-a-Thon. During lunch, local engineers spoke with the students about their field as well as other STEM career possibilities and allowed students to participate in a unique Q&A opportunity.
