S.T.E.M. Activities At PS4

Ms. Giler's 3rd grade scholars use Ozobots to reinforce elements of a story.

What is STEM? STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) is a cultural and educational shift. Rather than teaching the four disciplines in isolation, STEM blends them into a cohesive learning model based on real-world applications. STEM education encourages scientific inquiry, hands-on experimentation, and data analysis. Above all, STEM gets scholars excited about science! At PS4, our scholars are exploring STEM in a variety of ways.

In Ms. Giler’s classroom scholars discussed how plot, setting, and characters are important when building a story mountain. To reinforce their learning, the scholars worked with the Ozobot to retell the story of the Three Little Pigs and used the Ozobot’s color codes to describe the story elements and outline the plot points. This approach helped them visualize the story structure through the plots. 

In Ms. Mallonga’s classroom, scholars discussed how the structure of story elements supports the story. With one sheet of paper and a few pieces of tape, scholars tried to build a structure that support a book to be elevated off the ground. Some students built circular structures with their group members, pooling their resources, while other students built triangles or boxes to support their books. The analogy that the students took away from the experience is ,without structure and story elements to support, the story will fall apart

In Ms. K. Cabral and in Mr. Harris’ classrooms, scholars mapped out a constellation on paper. To incorporate STEM into the science lesson, the scholars are going to set the Ozobot loose on the lines of their constellation and use the color coding to showcase where the stars are in the constellation. While the students got to see an example of the teacher using the Ozobot to outline the Big Dipper, the students are excited to create their own coded constellations next time!

Ms. K. Cabral (520) shows her scholars how to use the Ozobots.

Ms. Anderson and Mr. Robinson facilitated a mini lesson about the elements of a story and then used SMART board technology to have the scholars pick their story elements.They motivated their scholars by promising that they will extend the story elements into 3D printing.

In Ms. Hodge’s classroom, scholars used think-pair-share strategy to discuss what STEM is. Scholars also discussed how the story elements fit into the story mountain. This approach helped scholars conceptualize the variant parts of the story structure.Then, scholars wrote their own stories and mapped them out. Once scholars finish their stories, they will create story mountains using the Ozobot.

According to Ms. Bryan, Assistant Principal facilitating STEM projects at our school, "we are at the early stages of STEM implementation and I've noticed that using STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is helping our teachers start teaching the four subjects in an integrated manner. "  She goes on to say, "most of all, I have seen scholars being motivated and engaged in learning when exposed to STEM-related lessons."  

It is clear that STEM activities ignite scholars' interest and makes any topic exciting by including design, application, and integration process. For more information about STEM activities at PS4, please contact Ms. Bryan at EBryan@schools.nyc.gov. For more information on Ozobots, click here!