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By Julie Porflit, Librarian
Photo Credit: Julie Porflit
hat’s full of excitement, hands-on-learning, great vocabulary, and teamwork? Makerspace at Moye Elementary. A new angle on encouraging learning and academic improvement has been implemented during the third grade enrichment period for the Moye Mountain Lions. Twelve students are selected each nine weeks to attend Makerspace during the enrichment/intervention period. Teachers used achievement data to select students who may need motivation to step up their game. Three phases of instruction were designed equip students with process and product learning opportunities. In the first phase, students dissected the scientific process and then applied their knowledge to develop a Soft Landing System for a trip to Mars. Research, vocabulary building and trial and error were in place as students built a system to protect their precious cargo. The final step of phase one was an exciting day of testing their systems as they dropped their cargo from different heights and examined the outcomes. Phase two took students into the world of Civil Engineers. They explored a fictional story where construction of a bridge was required to save the day. They studied bridges and construction material. The hands-on component had student groups building a bridge with a specified type and amount of materials. They moved from construction, to testing, to modifications to achieve success with different weights for the load on the bridges.
Moye Mountain Lions
makerspace