The Art of STEAM - Rainbows

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." -  Albert Einstein

Art is the expression of your imagination and the ability to then create a visual representation. Art also has many different facets like painting, drawing, dancing, sculpting, music, etc. These can be interpreted in many different ways, from who created it, to how and why it was created. When it comes to children engaging in artistic exploration, I believe this talent comes naturally. They express what they think and interpret it in the way they see fit onto paper or with whatever can be used at their disposal. Children are out of the box thinkers, which means they do not limit themselves and will utilize materials in ways that sometimes adults may not understand.


Time in the S.T.E.A.M isn't always science, building, or experimenting. There are moments when children just want to create art and be expressive. During these art/creative moments, I make sure to give the children the freedom to create what is on their mind, uninterrupted. It gives the children the chance to explore and understand the material they are using in the way they want to use it--uninfluenced. 


These children featured in these pictures came ready to create rainbows and rainbows are what they created. How they were going to do this was unknown by me. Their familiarity with the STEAM room from the previous year allowed them to gather the materials they wanted on their own. They each chose cardboard as a heavy backing, and also paper. They looked to the shelves and pointed out the materials they wanted, along with me suggesting other materials they could potentially use. 

Free to express and create these children created their own interpretation of a rainbow. They utilized the colors from the rainbow or colors they liked from a rainbow to put that idea on paper or cardboard as a collage. It wasn't just one visit of them coming into the STEAM room to complete these rainbows pieces, but multiple visits. Their choices were purposeful when creating these pieces, carefully coloring tiles a solid color or multicolored. Cutting pieces of construction paper and using them as small mosaic pieces. Stringing yarn around or recycled caps from markers or bottles. Materials that all had a purpose for their implementation. 

By their 3rd visit of creating more of their rainbow collage I brought out a crystal prism that refracts light when light shines through. It created small little rainbows scattered on the ceiling. We looked at one of the displays on the ceiling, observed what colors we could see, and named them off. One child was so inspired that they created their own little square of color just like what they had observed on the ceiling. 


From here we will see where this rainbow exploration will take the group next! 

Microscopes

A group of children from the Zayteem (Olive's class) came into the S.T.E.A.M room for the very first time. These three were very curious since they had never been into the room before. We had some discussions of  different topics on the things that were in the room. We talked about my tool box and the tools that populated it, when one child mentioned they had a saw at home, but they can't use it. I informed the children that I had a saw and brought it out and showed them I had one to. I asked if they wanted to help me saw some of the wood that I acquired and have been slowly cutting down. Eagerly they said yes! Before we used the saw, we needed to talk about the safety rules when using a saw.

1. Never use/touch a saw without an adult being with you.
2. Keep your hands and fingers away from the sharp part of the saw.
3. Listen to the adult when cutting.

After we went over our rules we picked what looked to be a big piece of wood. We hauled it over to the table and I brought my container to catch the sawdust. Each child was able to get a turn to help push and pull the saw through the wood (while I assisted them in their efforts to cut). We noticed the saw dust coming from the cut pieces of wood falling into the container. After we cut the wood their attention was focused on another tool in the class room.

One child walked over to the set of microscopes and was looking in them. There was a dead cicada laying on the flat surface of it as they were asking "What is this?" and "Is that a real bug?".  I let them know that what they were looking at was a very special tool and that the bug was not alive. I asked if they wanted to look at this new device and they did. I set up and area on a table in the room so we could explore this new thing. I gave them a couple minutes to fiddle with the knobs and switches before I asked them if they knew what it was called. They didn't know, so I told them it was called a Stereoscope and we need to use both our eyes to look through it. 

Exploring Stereoscope

Observing the  Stereoscope

Exploring the Magnifying Knob

After their investigating the stereoscope, I plugged it in and showed them that it had lights on it too. We looked at where the power button was and saw there was a light the turned on from inside the bottom shining up and a light that shined down onto the platform. I asked the children what they thought these stereoscopes where used for. They genuinely were not sure, so I told them that it let us look at things that were very small, l close up. It can be a difficult concept for children to wrap their head around to think of looking at something small close up.  I brought over the container when we were sawing wood to catch some sawdust. I picked up the saw dust from the bin and put it on a lid and let the children feel it and look at it. 

Observation of Sawdust

They felt it and they all said it feels soft and fluffy as they felt and examined it with their fingers. The saw dust was clumped together and I told them to use their eyes and look carefully at the saw dust and see it they are big or little pieces. They moved the sawdust around and pinched some between their fingers. They came to the conclusion that the pieces were very small. I told them, that is why we have microscopes like the one I showed them so we can look to see what those small pieces look like. I put some of the sawdust on a dark tray and placed it under the stereoscope for them to investigate the difference. Once it was focused and visible through the eye viewers, each child got a chance to look at the sawdust. Some with shocked expression and mouths opening when looking through the eye pieces, one child said "It looks really big!" 

Another child said "It looks like to much."  After they all got a chance to look at the sawdust, we discussed about it looking "bigger". I said it looks bigger because if you are looking at it close up, its still the same size, but when we look through the eye pieces, its helping us to look at it "up close". I showed them on the front of the stereoscope that there was a number that said "1x". They all identified the number being one. I said as I twisted the black magnifier part that is pointing down at the sawdust around and we saw that a new number showed up. They said "That's the number 3!". It showed as "3x". When I turned it I explained when its on the number 3x, we get to see it even closer now and that it will look "bigger". When we looked through the eye pieces the children were what seemed pretty amazed at the sight. One said "It looks gooey." as another said "It's bigger!"

Sawdust Magnification - 1x

Sawdust Magnification - 3x

After we looked at the sawdust I brought over some sand over on a small plate. We looked at the sand the same way as the sawdust. We explored it by feeling it and making observation of it before looking at it under the stereoscope. We noticed the sand feels very soft as they felt it against their finger tips. As we spread the sand around we made a keen observation that sand is made up of very small pieces. You could see the small little individual specks of sand as it was spread around. 

Observation of Sand

Observation of Sand

We placed the brown tray on the stereoscope platform and adjusted to make it visible again. When the children each got their turn to look into the eye piece, they were pretty amazed at what they saw. They said it looks like little rocks, another child said it looks like small pieces of glass. We observed just like the sawdust, the sand in both 1x and 3x. When looking at it up close one child stated, "It looks like salt." I replied with "Hm, that's an interesting observation lets go get some salt and see if it looks the same or if it looks different than the sand." 

Sand Magnification - 1x

Sand Magnification - 3x

We went to the kitchen in the school and grabbed some salt. We poured it in another small dish and observed it before we looked at it under the stereoscope. Right away we could make some obvious observations from the sand to the salt. We noticed that the salt looked much bigger than the sand pieces. Also when we felt the sandy we noticed it didn't feel as soft as the sand either, it felt "more scratchy". We put the dish under the scope to see what if our observation would really show us the differences. 

Sand

Comparing Sand and Salt

Salt

Right away the children could notice and see the difference between the salt and the sand. "It looks like little squares." commented one child. "There is also circle looking ones too" replied another child. Comparisons were being made right away to the shapes, sizes and color of the salt. One child pointed out that the salt looks like white beads. The amazing thing about these observations was my lack of needing to prompt them in their observations. They were making these comparisons between the sand and salt naturally, because they were invested and interested in this experiment. 

Salt Magnification - 1x

Salt Magnification - 3x

As we observed more and looked at the salt under the scope, I asked "Is there something else that is like sand and salt that we could look at?".  They thought and one child responded with "sugar is also like sand".We walk back over to the kitchen and got a little bit of sugar brought it back to the class. In our observation before placing under the scope we felt it, like we did with the sand and salt before. We were seeing if it felt or looked different than the sand or salt. One child took notice that the sugar and sand looked whiter than the salt did. We also took note that the sugar didn't feel as scratchy as the salt did, but not as soft as the sand.  After our initial observation we placed it under the scope to get a closer look.

Sugar Magnification - 1x

Sugar Magnification - 3x

Right away they made clear observations that it looked similar to the salt. "They look like little squares" stated one child. "They don't look as big as the salt, but they still look like squares." said another child. It's amazing to watch these children, with a scientific lenses, ask these questions and make these comparisons. Being able to have new experiences like this for them is what opens their minds and unlocks those abilities to ask those questions and critically think about things in general. 

Welcome to the S.T.E.A.M Room!

Hi everyone, it's Daniel here and I am very excited to get the S.T.E.A.M room and it's blog started this year. A lot of people, when they look at the S.T.E.A.M room might wonder and ask, "What is S.T.E.A.M?" or "What happens in the S.T.E.A.M room?"  S.T.E.A.M is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. In the room we explore with lots of different materials in small groups. Working with smaller groups helps the children to focus on what they are interested in learning, and really encourages the children to communicate and work with each other. Some of the materials we have for the children to use are wood, plastics, metals, electronic parts, natural objects, tools, microscopes, cloths, yarn, art supplies, and more! With these items at their disposal they will be able to create, construct, craft, experiment and explore in an environment where the children can learn and grow from these experiences. I will be using this blog and these posts to give the people reading the insight into these experiences that the children are having in the S.T.E.A.M room and other S.T.E.A.M learning activities going on in other classrooms too.

The door is usually open for anyone to pop in and take a look and see what's going on. There will usually be something exciting to look at inside the room that the children are working on. 

Over the past 5 years, children have worked on various projects in the S.T.E.A.M room. We have experimented with ramps and balls, taken apart computer and electronics, watching seeds grow into big plants, building towers and our own machinery and much more. Its a great space for children to make connections with either the unfamiliar, to understand it, and even things they are familiar with to get a better understanding of its potential uses. As they make those connections I am there to help facilitate and deepen their learning by engaging them with questions and experiments.

The S.T.E.A.M room is a place for children to explore, but it can also be used as a resource room for other classes when I am not available for them. It's a space where other teachers can come to look for materials that they my not have of their own and use it for projects in their classrooms. This is a communal place for everyone to use. Even if you are not part the school or can't come into the S.T.E.A.M room there are many ways you can help the room flourish. The S.T.E.A.M room is always looking and willing to take recyclable donations. If you would like to help donate things to the room please send me an EMAIL of what you would have to offer. Things we accept, old/broken electronics (Computers, toasters, microwaves, radio's, etc), wood materials (lumber, boards, scrap wood) for building, big cardboard tubes, paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, plastic tubing, glass jars, etc.

I hope everyone is as excited as I am to see what ideas and thoughts come from the children while they enjoy their time in the S.T.E.A.M room. Check back often to see what children are working on/doing.

Daniel