New Year's Catch Up

Yikes, the holiday frenzy got me and I am behind on my blog posts! Here is a quick overview of the last month in the Clark House STEAM Lab. It's so hard to capture all the excitement, discovery and learning, but, hopefully, this will give you a sense for some of it. 

Our decomposing pumpkins are really changing! The one on the ground is almost gone (except for the stem) and the one in the Kindergarten-designed "hammock" is quite moldy and squished (as demonstrated by Abby!)

Can you believe we were able to plant 60 bulbs in honor of the 60th birthday of TCS in short sleeves on December 10th?!

The 2nd graders compared natural dye color extracting methods used during colonial studies with more modern day techniques of chromatography. 

The PreKers did a fabulous job sharing all their learning and bridge building with parents and reading buddies in December. They drew and painted famous bridges from the Golden Gate to the Ponte Vecchio, built bridges from sticks, blocks, recyclables and construction manipulatives, read many books about bridges and bridge builders, and used iPad apps to learn how different forces act on bridges. They are truly bridge experts!

1st graders learned about the art and engineering of cuckoo clocks as part of their study of Germany and Europe. Here they construct models with birds that really "pop" out.

It was so fun to Skype with our 1st grade classmate, Nita, who is in Germany for the winter. She told us all about holiday and winter traditions in Germany and showed us around her "chalet" style house.

BIG NEWS! We have a new friend to learn about and take care of in the STEAM Lab! Meet Eowyn, the hedgehog. Here, the preschoolers observe her and make mini hedgehog models out of clay and toothpicks.

Kindergarteners are excited to be starting a STEAM study of building and architecture. They are great shape detectives, identifying shapes all around the TCS campus, and are learning the names of common and unusual shapes. Soon, they will incorporate their learning into some building and design challenges and will learn about several famous architects.

Love our curious and creative students! Happy 2016, everyone!