{"id":12195,"date":"2024-05-17T09:50:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:50:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=12195"},"modified":"2024-05-17T09:50:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T13:50:54","slug":"science-in-gym-class-why-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/science-in-gym-class-why-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Science in gym class: Why not?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Three Oaks Elementary PE teacher Nick Jensen, right, encouraged fourth grader Griffin Foster as he threw a ball towards the buckets. The “STEM in the Gym” station explained how potential energy turns into kinetic energy as soon as the ball is released into the air.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Science, technology, engineering and math merged with physical education during \u201cSTEM in the Gym\u201d at Three Oaks Elementary School on May 3.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s health and physical education team, including PE teacher Nick Jensen, organized activities to foster real-world learning and show a relationship between science and physical education.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to introduce and reinforce STEM concepts,\u201d Jensen said. \u201cStudents see, feel and experience how those concepts enhance sports performance and how the world around us works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the school\u2019s approximately 700 students in kindergarten through fifth grade visited the gym during their regularly scheduled physical education class time.<\/p>\n

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One of the stations at the Three Oaks Elementary “STEM in the Gym” featured Sphero Bolts, small coding robotic balls. Students enjoyed moving the balls by using iPads.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wide-eyed fourth graders didn\u2019t waste any time dispersing between the 17 stations and gleefully moving from one activity to the next.<\/p>\n

The gym sounded like a carnival as shrills, cheers and laughs echoed throughout.<\/p>\n

Many gravitated toward the Sphero Bolt area, where they were introduced to computational thinking skills and coding concepts. After designing a track, they used iPads as remote controls to drive the small coding robotic ball from one point to another.<\/p>\n

Fifth graders, including Mia Williams and Lovelyn Cady, served as station volunteers for the younger grades.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeaching and leading the stations helped reinforce the concept better to them,\u201d Jensen said.<\/p>\n

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Three Oaks Elementary students moved from station to station at “STEM in the Gym.” Fifth graders Lovelyn Cady, left, and Mia Williams volunteered during the fourth grade session to help them make atoms-shaped structures out of hula hoops.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mia and Lovelyn showed Ainsley Kennedy how to build an atom-shaped structure out of hula hoops and asked her to draw a card. The card instructed Ainsley to make a carbon molecule. She reached into a basket and chose the correct number of neutrons, protons and surrounding electrons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is cool\u201d Ainsley said. She is in her school\u2019s robotics club and said she enjoys learning how things work.<\/p>\n

Nearby, Brooke Zorotrian threw a ball at a target, while a classmate pointed a radar gun at the ball and squeezed the trigger to measure velocity. Brooke smiled after learning her ball travelled at 27 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like mathematics a lot, and also engineering and science,\u201d she said, adding that she plans to become a dermatologist.<\/p>\n

Aiden Pardekooper hit a wiffle ball off a tee at the Newton\u2019s Second Law of Motion station. He knew about the law, which states \u201cto move a mass, you need a force.\u201d\u00a0 He is a pitcher, shortstop and third baseman on a local baseball team. Solid baseballs travel farther, he explained. \u201cThe wiffle ball doesn\u2019t go as far and is harder to hit because it\u2019s hollow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students launched balls with large bands in the trajectory area. Two held the band, one at each end, while another loaded the balls and pulled back to create tension before letting them fly.<\/p>\n

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Students tried to knock down as many buckets as possible in the trajectory area, one of 17 stations at Three Oaks Elementary’s “STEM in the Gym” on May 3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Figuring out the correct angle and speed was important to successfully knocking down the stacked buckets.<\/p>\n

Other stations provided students the opportunity to learn about centripetal force by spinning a basketball on a finger. They studied aerodynamics and inertia through making and flying paper airplanes, and explored kinetic energy by bouncing a ball into a cup.<\/p>\n

Barb Anderson, whose grandson is a Three Oaks Elementary third grader, volunteered at the event. She spent 35 years as a Virginia Beach City Public Schools teacher and retired 11 years ago.<\/p>\n

She said \u201cSTEM in the Gym\u201d provided students the chance to have fun and explore on their own with a little guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe children are excited about all types of science concepts,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One of the stations at the Three Oaks Elementary “STEM in the Gym” featured Newton’s second law of motion, where Elin Dupont hit a wiffle ball off a tee.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Three Oaks Elementary students were treated to a fun “STEM in the Gym” event on May 3. They rotated between stations, including an area to make and fly paper airplanes and learn about aerodynamics and inertia. From left, Elizabeth Dowdy, volunteer Demetrius Edwards, Olivia Leon and Tristan Fisher.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Science, technology, engineering and math merged with physical education during \u201cSTEM in the Gym\u201d at Three Oaks Elementary School on May 3. The school\u2019s health and physical education team, including […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12195"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12211,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12195\/revisions\/12211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}