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<\/a><\/p>\nThree doors down, students were using 3D pens to sketch bookmark designs on construction paper that would transform their sketches into three-dimensional plastic objects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty exciting because you can draw something in 2D and make it into 3D,\u201d said Jasmyn Miller, a rising fifth-grader at Seatack Elementary An Achievable Dream Academy.<\/p>\n
When asked if that is the wave of the future, she wisely said no.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there are going to be 4D pens and printers.\u201d<\/p>\n
These students are enrolled in this year\u2019s Title I Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Summer Camp for elementary students, which runs for two weeks at Rosemont Elementary. The program draws students from across the division\u2019s Title I elementary schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for them to get to know what the STEM fields and concepts are all about,\u201d said Ryan Foster, math specialist at Bettie F. Williams Elementary and one of the camp\u2019s onsite coordinators. \u201cIt\u2019s about getting them exposure and new experiences that ultimately would lead them to discovering career paths in the future that involve STEM fields.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Foster, fourth and fifth grades were chosen for the camp because as students approach middle school it helps them know that they are capable of completing higher level work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe camp really builds their confidence,\u201d he stated while also noting that it helps them as they contemplate middle school academic courses.<\/p>\n
But most of all, the lessons are designed to help them learn, according to the standards of learning, while having fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are learning naturally about these concepts by hands-on exploring and playing. Then the teacher comes in on the back with direct instruction helping them learn the vocabulary and make that connection to the long term,\u201d Foster stated. \u201cThe teacher will share with them, \u2018Okay, this is what you just did and what you just did is what people are actually doing for this job in the field.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The elementary camp has been so successful that this year it was expanded to a middle school level summer STEM camp for Title I students.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the elementary level camp continues to evolve and even added two new classes this year based on teacher expertise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a teacher who is a music teacher during the school year so he\u2019s teaching students how technology is used to digitally enhance music and create soundtracks,\u201d according to Foster.<\/p>\n
That class also teaches students about digital citizenship, including copyright infringement.<\/p>\n
Another new addition is the 3D printing class, which is more than exposing students to 3D technology.<\/p>\n
According to Foster, the class \u201cbrings in a lot of math concepts because they have to understand measurements and three-dimensional shapes in area and volume.\u201d Students will also learn about computer-aided design.<\/p>\n
A field trip to the Virginia Air and Space Center is also coordinated during the first week of camp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of things there that you can\u2019t find anywhere in the world such as the lunar modules that once landed on the moon,\u201d Foster stated. While there, the museum arranges for students to participate in educational programs related to STEM, such as a small lab filled with electronics and a 3D IMAX movie about robotics.<\/p>\n
For the second and final week of the camp, students invite their parents for what\u2019s called \u201cChallenge Day.\u201d On this day, students choose a project to showcase to their parents using what they\u2019ve learned during the camp.<\/p>\n
In the end, Foster sees the STEM experience as one that will help them in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always look at it as more than giving them exposure,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s giving them confidence and helping them identify themselves with a practitioner in the field that they normally wouldn\u2019t think about and instead say to themselves, \u2018I could be a mathematician,\u2019 or \u2018I could be a scientist.\u2019 It\u2019s helping them get excited about what could be their future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Note: If you’re interested in next year’s camp, please know that registration packets\u00a0are sent to all third- and fourth-grade students at every Title I school at the end of April.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tai\u2019tyanna Towe knows that she wants to be a scientist. \u201cI want to be a scientist because you get to do experiments,\u201d the Bettie F. Williams Elementary School rising fifth-grader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":8045,"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":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8046"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8065,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8046\/revisions\/8065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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