WEEKLY STEAM
CHALLENGES
CONTINUE AT NAMS
N
eil Armstrong Middle School students on Team
Ranger look forward to participating in weekly STEAM
Challenges.
STEAM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art
and Math, and STEAM activities encourage students to take their
learning beyond rote memorization, to develop the necessary
critical thinking skills to take a new approach to problem solving.
This is the second year that Team Ranger students have
participated in this hands-on activity that promotes collaboration
and out of the box thinking. On the surface the tasks look
fairly simple, but once students get into the task, they see that
oftentimes there is some trial and error before hitting on the
solution.
For example, students on the first week of STEAM Challenges
were asked to work in groups of two or three and given 30
popsicle sticks and one meter of tape to construct the tallest
freestanding structure possible.
Before they began assembling the tower, the students spent
some time sketching out their idea. The tallest tower constructed
was 83 centimeters tall.
The following week’s challenge built upon the previous
week’s challenge, as students were given popsicle sticks, plastic
cups and masking tape and asked to build a structure at least
50 centimeters high that could also safely balance a textbook
without toppling.
While the students did a great job of meeting the height
requirement of the challenge, only three teams of students were
able to build a structure sturdy enough to balance a book.
Another challenge had the students building as tall of a
structure as they could out of popsicle sticks and clothes pins.
As the school year goes on, the challenges will increase in
difficulty and will incorporate more aspects of geometry.
The students switch partners every week so they have an
opportunity to work with classmates they have not worked with
previously, to gain new insights and to develop teamwork among
the group.
The students are taught by Steve Yost and Kristen Rylander.
(Left to right): Toni Stith and Janet O’Rourke
DISTRICT RECEIVED
DISTINGUISHED PATHWAY
PARTNER AWARD
T
he Bethel Park School District received the
Distinguished Pathway Partner Award from the
Carnegie STEM Excellence Pathway Partners.
Since the 2015-2016 school year, Bethel Park has been a
member of the Carnegie STEM Excellence Pathway Partners,
sponsored by the Chevron Center for STEM Education and
Career Awareness, and the Carnegie Science Center.
Through the District’s participation in this program, a
team of teachers and administrators were able to me et with
teams from other participating schools on a regular basis
at the Carnegie Science Center to work collaboratively to
improve STEM education in their schools.
The District was honored to be one of 10 school districts
selected to participate in this program. The District
continues to seek opportunities to work collaboratively with
other school districts and organizations to improve STEM
education in all of our schools.
Presenting the award to the District was Toni Stith, STEM
Professional Development Coordinator at the Carnegie
Science Center. Receiving the award on behalf of the Bethel
Park School District was Janet O’Rourke, Assistant to the
Superintendent for Assessments, Evaluations and Human
Resources.
By working together in groups of two or three, the NAMS students were able to
collaborate on a successful design.
Bethel Park | Winter 2017 | icmags.com 59