Middle School STEAM Lab

 

Beginning in 5th grade, a STEAM lab class gives students the opportunity to use Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math in real-life applications.  Exciting build challenges make learning fun and relevant.

 

Every year there is a a new theme for the school year.  One example of our past themes is Transportation. Students began the year learning about internal combustion engines and took apart and put back together lawn mower engines.  They moved on to electric cars and designed their own car on our professional-grade CAD software.  After measuring and designing all of the functional parts, students printed their body with our 3D printer and built the electrical circuit to make it go.  All cars were required to move at least 10 feet by their own power, we then held an endurance race across our parking lot.  Another theme in STEAM lab our students worked on besides the electric car project, is space travel.  Students designed and built their own model rocket from scratch, including modeling and printing the nose cones, fins, and engine mounts.  Students used computer software to calculate the center of gravity and center of pressure and tested these with tools and a wind tunnel to ensure that our rockets are safe to fly.  This project culminated with students launching their rockets in our school field.