STEAM-Day 3

We are rocking roller coasters in our classroom!  I have 18 of the best roller coaster engineers I've ever seen.  You know it's a great assignment when 18 students do not want to stop working and beg to give up recess time to continue working on their coasters!  It's amazing to watch and listen to.  I love standing back and observing their thinking process.  We are not completely done, but as each team adds a new manuever they have to test the coaster to make sure each component works.  Once they've successfully tested it several times, they can add a new manuever.  Each new addition adds added stress to their lives!  They are stressed and I am in awe.

Brainstorming and sketching (A in STEAM)

Building the first loop (E in STEAM)

Building (E in STEAM)

Testing and Correcting (E & M in STEAM)

Building
 

In addition to our awesome building, we were very lucky to have a real-life engineer come in and talk with all 3rd grade students.  Mr. Fulton, active duty Navy, took some time away from his job to spend some time talking with our kiddos about engineering and Newton's Laws of Motion.  Check out the video below of Mr. Fulton explaining centrifugal force.