This is my favorite time in STEM, we are preparing to create innovative ideas and games during our “Makers Month”.

1st graders draw inventions, and some wonderful solutions to everyday problems have been invented; such as, a “claw cover” for cats who scratch, and a “hug machine” for when you are sad.

2nd graders are planning to make board games to play.

3rd graders are imagining marble runs to make.

4th graders are coming up with great arcade games out of boxes.

Kindergarten and DK work in groups together to build with blocks, cardboard, and connectors.

The students are given 15 objects, and they need to predict which items will be magnetic, some of the tricky ones are a key, a twist tie, a penny, and a colored paperclip.  Then we test each object with a magnet to find out if we were correct.  The students figure out how to make paperclips magnetic for some time, and that they can move some objects with the repelling force of magnetism, and many more discoveries just playing with magnets!

Students identify what type of fingerprint they have.  We learn that our fingerprints are unique, no one has the same exact print, some identifiers include, a loop, an arch, or a whorl.  The students create their fingerprints using washable marker, and compare their print to other students in the group.  Then we report what each student found out, and add up the different types of fingerprints to see what is the most common, and most students have the loop.