The students in the STEM Club at Glenn C. Marlow Elementary School will be prepared for the future of science, technology, engineering, and math – and will be able to stretch their bodies, as well as their minds.
On a recent Saturday morning, the STEM Club visited both the Zaniac Learning Center and Inspired Change Yoga in Biltmore Park, Asheville, for an “Exercising Our Mind and Body” field trip. Their first stop was Zaniac – an after-school STEM enrichment organization offering everything from computer programing, robotics, and game design, to space education.
The STEM Club at Glen Marlow Elementary school offers the students a place to have hands-on learning along with in-class lessons.
Teacher and STEM Club Adviser Stephanie Patton said, “Glenn Marlow has been open to my ideas and preparing the students. This is one way to do it and get them excited for their future.”
On Saturday, Patton divided the club into two groups at Zaniac. The first group went to learn about the concept of different physical dimensions and 3-D printing. Their instructor, Jack, a high school student, taught the children how to use their 3-D creating software to design their own name tags.
The teachers were also interested in the 3-D printing processes. While the students were designing their name tags, the teachers asked the instructor several questions about how the printer worked.
Patton said, “Do you have have 3-D printing for senior citizens?”
While the 3-D printer group was working hard, the other group was learning about coding, or programming computers and software. The children were able to make their own online maze game. They were given a single animation character and were able to change its size, functions, and movement.
Afterwards, the groups switched activities, and then learned about programming robots and creating their own phone apps.
The robotics group learned about a device called a “Brick” and how it controls a robot – in this case, a small car created by LEGO bricks. The group split into two and each section had a chance to program the robots themselves.
Fourth-grader Miles D. input the programs, while his group members arranged the robot and checked what adjustments were needed to create the path they wanted. As soon as they successfully programmed their robots, the two groups had a race around the table.
After having a whole afternoon learning about technology and exercising their minds, students went to learn some yoga moves at Inspired Change Yoga to exercise their bodies as well.
Studio owner Carrie Myers and instructor Carole Synder taught students basic yoga poses including downward dog, happy baby, Superman, and tree pose. STEM Club members quickly grasped the concept of each of these poses with the Superman pose bringing them to bouts of giggles because, Patton said, “The poses did not come so easy to the chaperones.”
The happy baby pose made the students so joyous that they were very disappointed when their time at the studio was over. One student even asked, “Can we come back tomorrow?”
The STEM club only began this school year, but holds lots of potential for students. Currently, it is open to 3rd to 5th graders, but starting in February, the school will have a club for kindergarten through 2nd grade students. And, Patton said, she’s already planning another “Working Our Mind and Body” field trip for the younger students.
(Written by Alex Ramirez, Early College, Public Information Office Intern, HCPS.)