During Computer Science Week, we asked you what you were doing to celebrate the week, or to get in your Hour of Code. We heard from the Fred W. Hill School, in Brockport.
The Hill school is a busy place. “The Hill School Learning Community is comprised of wonderful families who send us over 560 magnificent children enrolled in grades 4 and 5. We employ the most dedicated and caring adults who have uncompromising commitment and passion towards educational excellence for our students.” (source: BCSD website) This commitment and passion is evident in the classrooms, and their attention to STEM education is just one example.
Heidi Squillante teaches a 5th Grade class at the Hill School. Her students were excited to share what they have been doing.
An Hour of Code at the Hill School
Our class enjoyed doing the “hour of code”. One of my classmates, Matthew, and I had fun completing the Minecraft program. It was like a puzzle; we would connect the little puzzle pieces then hit “run”. We watched for mistakes and fixed them together. It was like video games, in school! – Brennan
hands on learning – prosthetic hands!
In addition to the Hour of Code activities, students in Squillante’s class participate in STEM activities on a regular basis. From Robotics to prosthetics, a variety of STEM topics have been covered already this year.
My 5th grade class participates in STEM twice a month. One thing that I found interesting was when we built prosthetic hands. We used plastic cups, straws, string and tape. I thought that the most interesting time was when we had to make it open and close without using our other hand. Then we added blue foam to make it look realistic, it made it feel more realistic too. – Indigo
STEM learning goes throughout the Hill school. School-wide and grade-level programming keep the kids excited about learning.
The STEM session I found most interesting was when we created rockets. Our class made rockets out of cardboard, paper and tape. After we constructed our rockets, we launched them with an “air launcher” pressing down on an air pillow to make them go. It was lots of fun and our class hit the target the most of any 5th grade class, 21 times! – Jeffrey
The emphasis on STEM is a district-wide initiative. Many of the STEM projects are guided by Mr. Coon, who is a technology teacher at Brockport High School. Mr. Coon travels to the Hill school to give STEM lessons to all of the 5th grade classrooms on a regular basis.
Does your school participate in STEM programming that you would like to share? We love sharing ideas and activities here at the Hub! Please send details to our Website and Blog Coordinator, Tammy Bonisteel: tammybon@empirestem-fl.org
Posted by tammybon 
The STEM Blog 