Students are once again participating in a weekly STEAM lab time. This is a thirty-minute slot of time each Friday where students come to the library to work on hands-on activities of their choosing that relate to science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

This year, I am excited to announce that we have a slot for our kiddos in the MD hall! This means that these students also have a weekly set time to come to the library and work on STEAM related activities.

Here’s some pictures from the first couple of weeks!

Last Friday, our kiddos got to innovate in the S.T.E.A.M. lab for the first time of the year.  I was able to catch some pictures of our kids at work.

This week, my S.T.E.A.M. lab buddies are working on a challenge I borrowed from Ms. Brooke Brown on Teachers Pay Teachers.  We are building our own Elf of the Shelf!  The kids have been given Popsicle sticks and play-doh.  Their challenge is to build a shelf that will hold an elf.   We’ve had a few successes so far!

I just had so much fun with Ms. Calhoun’s class!  Today, for S.T.E.A.M. lab, we decided to focus on an art challenge.  We used our primary colors to make blow paint monsters.  So much fun!  This turned out to be a pretty fun way to show the kids how they can create secondary colors.  Here are a couple of our new library monsters:

I recently learned about the life of a man named Gustave Eiffel.  He is most famous for his engineering of the Eiffel Tower.  However, he is also responsible for the inner structure of the Statue of Liberty.    This little factoid has become my inspiration for the library S.T.E.A.M. lab this week.

This week, my STAR hall friends are being challenged to use tooth picks and play-doh to build the tallest structure they can.   To complete this challenge, they must first compare the structure of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.  They will notice a similar triangular pattern which they will use in the building of their own structure.  I can’t wait to see how high the kids can build!

This week, our S.T.E.A.M lab is an art related challenge that feeds off our challenge from the previous week.  Last week, we discovered that circular columns hold the most weight.  This week, we’re learning how the Ancient Greeks used this knowledge and combined it with common artistic elements to create three common column designs.  They are called Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.

The kids have two challenges this week. First, they must attempt to draw an example of each of these types of columns.  Then, using our iPads, they have been challenged to find real life examples of these columns in ancient Greek as well as modern architecture.

I can’t wait to see how to kids do with their first art challenge!

This week, our Linda Nolen Kiddos have been S.T.E.A.M. challenged to build the strongest column possible using only a single sheet of paper and some tape.  We’ve had a great time building triangle, square, and circle shaped columns.  The REALLY fun part has been placing paperback books on the tops of our work to see which shape holds the most weight.  Hands down, the circular shape holds the most every time.  Most of the time, it will even hold twice as much weight as the other shapes.  Today, when you get a chance, ask your child which shape held the least amount of weight.  They should be able to tell you the triangle makes a terrible column.

Welcome Back!!!  This evening when you take a seat at dinner with your family, please ask your Linda Nolen kiddo if they’ve made a visit to the library S.T.E.A.M lab.  I bet (hopefully) they will begin talking your ear off because this lab is SO MUCH FUN!

Because times are a changin’, school librarians have a challenge to find their role with this tech. savvy bunch of digital natives we teach each day.  Is it sufficient for us to just help kids find books and write reports?  That’s part of our job but only a VERY small part.  In the age of concepts like the Web 2.0, citizen journalists, and digital natives, it isn’t enough for our kids to be able to find information.  Now, we want our kids to learn how to ethically and effectively create information for others to use.  This is where my new baby, our school S.T.E.A.M Lab, becomes so important.

A S.T.E.A.M lab is simply a type of Makerspace and a Makerspace is no more than a place where kids can go to create “stuff.”  By creating a S.T.E.A.M. lab, I’ve chosen to focus our direction toward making things related to science, technology, engineering, art, and math.  Each week, I issue the kids a maker challenge and sit back and watch what they can do.

This week, I’ve thrown down some tough stuff!  The kids have been asked to make a structure with straws, tape, yarn, and a cup.  These are the only items the kids are allowed to use.  They are sitting at a table and their feet are on the floor so they can use those items as well.  The challenge is to make a structure that can suspend 100 pennies off the ground for at least 20 seconds.  I’m proud to say that so far, we’ve had lots of successfully built structures.  But more importantly, it has been a privilege to watch the amazing team work and ingenuity that has gone into this challenge.    The kids are thinking of ways to tackle this challenge that haven’t crossed my mind and that’s just great!