Cainhoy peninsula schools are STEAMing ahead with learning!

CAINHOY ELEMENTARY

Students in Ms. Stephanie Dinda’s second grade classroom at Cainhoy Elementary School experienced an out of this world lesson recently while studying Mae Jemison, an American engineer, physician and astronaut!

After learning a bit about Jemison from reading, “Mae Among the Stars,” the students began a STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art and Math) journal to document how they would launch a rocket ship into space. They imagined what their rocket ships would look like and mapped out a plan for construction using only a few materials (tape, rocket printable, a piece of construction paper, and a straw). Next, they experimented with the ships, collected data on how far the ships went when force was added (blowing air into the straw) and then analyzed what went well and what we needed to change to make the rocket ship go even further.

The group is now working on writing an expository piece on Jemison and how she has been a role model and a successful individual.

PHILIP SIMMONS ELEMENTARY

Students at Philip Simmons Elementary School have been hard at work integrating STEAM into their lessons! Several students recently learned about the infamous Greek goddess Medusa and incorporated authentic assessments, similes, and biographies into art creations. Other students conducted an “Author’s Tea” and shared books with their classmates. Mrs. Bowen’s students studied technology integration in math centers.

PHILIP SIMMONS HIGH

The Philip Simmons High School Iron Horses did an impressive job at the Quest Competition hosted at Trident Tech last Saturday. According to the Trident Tech website, the annual academic competition, open to public school students in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, was developed by TTC to “promote academic excellence, provide an academic challenge to students, and recognize top students, teachers and schools.” Areas of competition included math, science, social studies, composition, public speaking and visual arts. Other categories included automotive, computer aided design, computer programming, culinary, engineering design and construction, languages, video/film, and welding.