STEM Schools

Conn teachers enjoy STEM PD before summer break

christystory — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:41:50 +0000

Twenty staff members from Conn Active Learning and Technology Magnet Elementary enjoyed one last day together on Friday, June 14, preparing for new and improved engineering design challenges for the 2013-14 school year. From kindergarten to fifth grade, Conn students participate in hands-on project-based learning activities centered around the NC Essential Standards for science and social studies. With over 98 scheduled video conferences, 75+ excursions into the community, over 250 “expert speaker” presentations, and new engineering design challenges at each grade level, Conn students will be eager to return to the 2013-14 year!

F.G.I. Energy Savers Club Wins Award

East Cary — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:24:45 +0000

The East Cary Middle F.G.I. Energy Savers Club, or Federal Go-Green Initiative, won this year’s NC Triangle USGBC’s Environmental Stewardship Competition (ESC) which includes a check for $1,150. The competition in collaboration with Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) is based on four aspects of sustainability: energy, water, waste, and indoor air quality.

The F.G.I. was responsible for leading the environmental initiatives as part of our STEM program. Earth Hugs and Earth Notes are part of the daily TV announcements. Once a month the F.G.I. stuffed the teachers’ mailboxes with candy grams which included environmental facts and helpful tips for conserving energy, water, and resources.

The group also provided teachers with an end of the day checklist which included ways to reduce energy usage: turning off lights and televisions, closing blinds, shutting off computers, and unplugging unneeded items.

During Energy Awareness Month in October, the students created solar ovens and made s’mores. On National Recycling Day, students increased the promotion and benefits of recycling. On February 8th, National Black Out Day, students and staff wore black and turned off unnecessary lights to conserve energy.

The award ceremony was held at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, April 20 as part of the Earth Day celebration.

You can view the winning presentation online. Pictured is teacher sponsor, Cassie Haran, accepting the check and award.

Aversboro STEM Night

Christy Jenness — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 15:16:12 +0000

Aversboro Elementary hosted their 2nd annual STEM Family Night on Thursday, April 25. The night featured student STEM work showcases, demonstrations by NC State engineering students, iPad slideshows, information and demonstration booths from local STEM summer camps, the kick-off of the new Aversboro STEM T-shirt sale, and STEM themed door prizes! This night also gave parents the opportunity to complete on online survey about our school in the computer lab and purchase yearbooks. The event was a huge success!

Durham Rocket Team Makes a Visit

mwoods — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:56:46 +0000

Today NC School of Science and Math‘s Rocket Team made a visit to CCMMS. The Durham Rocket Team has recently worked with the NASA’s Student Launch Initiative and came to our school to demonstrate how rockets work. Students heard from the Rocket Team on the mechanics of building a rocket and the science involved in lift off and flight. Teams of students were also able to launch air powered rockets.

RISK FEST 2013- Women of the Future

mwoods — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:54:06 +0000

On April 24th CCMMS 6th and 8th graders participated in Risk Fest 2013. Risk Fest is a time for students, teachers, parents, agencies, companies, and individuals to get involved in the use of risk management strategies, tools, and practices to help preserve our urban and rural communities. Every year we set the goal of becoming better managers of agricultural, environmental, and energy related risks!

This year I was able to take a group of 6th grades to Risk Fest. Here are some of the activities we participated in.

“Risk Reduction on the Farm” presented by Dr. Stephan Shaefbauer from the USDA APHIS program. She taught us about bio-security on farms. Participating in a farming activity we witnessed how viruses spread in a farming community.

What is my risk for disease? We found out when we visited Ms. Rachel Mills a genetic counselor from Duke University. She talked with the group about how we can use our genes and gene history to inform us of our health. If we know what our health risks are she said, we can make changes to our lifestyle to help prevent certain diseases.

What kid doesn’t like to hang out with fireman? We heard from Mr. Chad Smith from the Raleigh Fire Department and how they prepare for fire and climate change. The students also got to take turns role playing and using the fire hose.

Traveling along the path we stopped to talk with Mr. Michael Gavazzi from the US Forest Service. He talked to use about the Loblobby Pine Tree and its importance to North Carolina’s agriculture. He also taught the students how to read the rings of a tree to determine its age. He also took us to the edge of Centennial’s woods and showed us new growth on pine trees as well as a spittle beetle.

Along the way we also allowed ourselves to get distracted and visit the Colgate Dental Van. The dentist on call passed out free toothbrushes and toothpaste to the students. Just in time we found Harris Tetter’s fruit stand where we sampled organic and conventional fruit.

Root Elementary’s 5th grade Speedway Challenge

stacyeleczko — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:18:09 +0000

On April 25th, all of the Root 5th graders participated in our 3rd annual Speedway Challenge. Working in teams, the students used their knowledge of Motion and Design concepts to engineer non-motorized vehicles that could travel down the “Root Canal Speedway Course.” Our main hallway is a series of inclined planes and plateaus so getting them to gain enough momentum was quite a challenge. The vehicle had to safely hold a block (as a passenger) and meet other constraints as well. There were trophies given for the 1st – 3rd place vehicles that traveled the farthest, ribbons for most creative design, most aerodynamic and fastest car. In addition, awards were given out for teamwork, perseverance and other important teamwork skills. Check out the photo gallery that was posted on the N & O website!

Using the Engineering Design Process as a “Change Engine”

gduncan — Thu, 09 May 2013 18:52:03 +0000

As part of our Early Release Day Staff Development in April, all Knightdale HS Professional Learning Teams were challenged to use the Engineering Design Process to solve a particular issue in their department.

Each PLT created a visual and all visuals were displayed in a gallery walk at the end of the day. Teachers were able to see a relevant example of how to use the Engineering Design Process in solving a real problem.

We have posted samples of the PLT visuals at our KHS STEM Workspace at https://khsstem.pbworks.com/edp-plt

Hilburn STEM Expo Spring 2013

eschettig — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:47:02 +0000

Hilburn Academy recently held it’s Spring 2013 STEM Expo and our Grand Challenge focus was “Providing Access to Clean Water”. All projects related to the grand challenge and were presented to parents and community partners. Projects included having students design methods of transporting water, filtering and cleaning rain water, conserving personal water consumption, setting up habitats that provide fresh water for animals, in addition to modeling the flow of water through different landforms.

Along with our expo we had an interactive science set-up for families to experience. The Science Festival provided experiment kits through the Thorp Science Night Program. The kits had families making goo, designing parachutes, building marshmallow towers, germinating seeds in gloves, making bracelets according to one’s genes, and many more. Parents were extremely happy with the setup of the science kits and were very appreciative of how involved the community is with our expos.

7th Grade Inventors Fair

East Cary — Fri, 03 May 2013 13:39:37 +0000

East Cary Middle School Track 7-4 students held their Inventors Fair on Thursday, May 2 in the media center. Students presented projects and designs that included improvements on existing products as well as new products.

Connecting CCMMS Students to the World

mwoods — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:47:08 +0000

How do famine, disease, conflict, human rights, and social relationships have a global impact? Over the past few weeks seventh grade students have been investigating this question. They have explored different areas of the world to gain a better understanding of globalization and the issues people of the world face every day. As a culminating project students selected a topic, researched the topic using primary and secondary sources, and analyzed the information they learned.

To educate you, the parents and our CCMMS community about what they learned, students have utilized different multimedia and web 2.0 tools such as Animoto, Dipity, Glogster, Prezi, PowerPoint, Timetoast, Video, Voicethread, Word and the web template of Weebly. We invite you to take a look at their projects and commend both Mr. Millhoff and Mrs. Gambino and the students for their dedication and hard work. Their work can be viewed here.