Tis the season to be jolly and have some after school fun. New Castle Elementary students and their families were invited to school on Dec. 12 for an evening of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) activities.
Approximately 200 attended “STEAM Night” featuring more than a dozen tables full of hands-on activities in the school’s foyer and cafeteria. The festive area hosted by staff members resembled Santa’s workshop as little elves were busy building pencil towers, catapulting snowballs, constructing sculptures out of magnets, and more. Chatter and laughter filled the air.
Eric Osborne said he was driving his daughter Chloe to gymnastics class when he saw the “STEAM Night” sign near the school’s entrance. “I thought, this is the perfect recipe for tonight,” he said. “This is awesome.”
His second-grader was busy at the “Growing the Grinch’s Heart with Science” table. She drew a heart on the balloon and used a funnel to pour some baking soda in it. Then she attached it to a water bottle filled with some vinegar. Almost immediately the balloon inflated and the Grinch’s heart grew. Chloe was delighted. “I’m gonna save it and put it in my room,” she said.
Her friend Isla Earle’s experiment was successful, too. Shannon Earle said she was happy to see her daughter “playing and learning at the same time.”
Nearby, third grade teacher Hannah Woolf demonstrated pyramid-building with plastic cups. Students picked up each cup using simple machines made of rubber bands. The challenge was to work with others to surround each cup with the machine and pull from different sides to allow the force to lift them up into a pyramid, without hands touching the cups. Woolf said the challenge allows students to “collaborate, communicate and work together.”
They also crafted musical instruments from pipe cleaners and bells with music teacher Jennica Hull, and built igloo huts out of hula hoops provided by physical education teacher Amber Beans.
First grade teacher Kristen Dennis said students were gaining knowledge “while not even realizing it.” She supervised a group of young engineers designing towers out of toothpicks and marshmallows.
Fourth-grader George Long looked proud. He had just sent three tiny marshmallows squished together more than 12 feet using a lever on a catapult made of popsicle sticks. “My favorite subject is science,” he said. The goal was to figure out what size and how many marshmallows could be launched the farthest using the simple machine.
The “Pencil Build” was supervised by Theresa Azzarello. “Students are using their creative side,” the fourth-grade teacher said. The activity helps improve dexterity as they stack as many pencils together as possible, she noted.
Community members also brought their expertise to share. Old Dominion University student MacKenzie Rickard is an intern at the engineering firm Gannett Fleming. She asked students “Where does water go when you wash your hands?” and piqued their curiosity with a simulated water faucet.
Kayla Bissette from Mad Science of Hampton Roads captured the attention of many. “Who’s heard of dry ice?” she asked. The answer: “It’s a frozen gas made from carbon dioxide.” The students were wide-eyed as she poured the ice into a cylinder filled with hot water, and steam emerged. “It’s turning from a solid to a gas!” Bissette explained.
Principal Heather Quinn said the second annual STEAM night helped involve parents in their children’s learning. “We wanted to build that sense of community by having a fun event for our students and families.”
Quinn oversaw the popular snow-making table. “Since we don’t get much snow, we make snow,” she said. Dish detergent and baking soda were mixed and molded into snowmen. First grader Mila Godina named hers “Frosty.” Her mother Ciara Godina said her daughter couldn’t wait to return to school for the evening. “She likes making things and drawing,” she said. Participating in the activities “gets her thinking without realizing she is thinking.”
