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Kara Jackson » STEM LAB

STEM LAB

Hello, my name is Kara Jackson and this is my 5th year as the STEM/SmartLab facilitator at Queen of All Saints School.
 
I am excited to share with you and your child, the Queen of All Saints SmartLab. I take great pleasure in facilitating the exciting and inspiring work students complete in our SmartLab.

What is a SmartLab?

Learning is different here! The SmartLab is a 21st century learning lab for students of all interests, ages, and abilities. SmartLabs put technology and learning resources in the hands of students, engaging learners in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) while building critical 21st century skills. SmartLabs feature project-based, student-centered curriculum supporting STEM and other core academic content. Every SmartLab is a powerfully integrated and comprehensive learning solution that combines technology with academics to prepare students for college and career success.

Our SmartLab features unique opportunities for students to explore, learn, and work in areas such as environmental technology, manufacturing technology, circuitry, communication & media arts, mechanical structure, robotics, scientific data and analysis, and software engineering.

In our SmartLab students keep a daily record of their work, create final presentations, and self assess their efforts. Together these records create a portfolio demonstrating the depth and breadth of your child’s learning. We store the portfolio electronically either in Seesaw (K-2) or the Learning Hub (4-8) so your child may use the term, “ePortfolio” to describe the collection of work they maintain to demonstrate the skills, knowledge, and experience they gain while working in the SmartLab.

 
 

Posts

The 2024 Water’s Worth It Essay contest is now accepting research and creative writing submissions!

 

Who Can Participate?  Illinois Students Grade 6-8th

 

What’s the topic? This year we are asking students to tell us about their watershed.  With the assistance of the EPA’s “How’s my Waterway” online tool, students will be able to research their local waterways, learning about their local water quality, how land use impacts the health of our waters, and what water management efforts are occurring within their watershed. 

 

Prizes? Cash prizes are awarded AND winning essays are printed in CS Water Magazine!

 

When are submissions due?  Submissions are being accepted through April 1st, 2024.

 

 

This contest is suitable for both Language Arts and Science teachers to share with their students as there are research and creative writing prompts to choose from. 

This is also a great ‘at-home’ project or extra credit option.

 

A little bit about our organization… Central States Water Environment Association (CSWEA.ORG) is a not-for-profit organization comprised of water quality professionals (engineers, water treatment operators, chemists, executives, government officials) with the purpose of exchanging water quality knowledge and experiences among its members and the public and to foster a greater awareness of water quality achievements and challenges. We are a member association of the Water Environment Federation (WEF.ORG).  This Essay contest is our contribution to the Water’s Worth It campaign (WATERSWORTHIT.ORG)

 

Please let me know if you have any questions.  See attached for contest flyer and details (details can also be found at CSWEA.ORG).

Engineering Exploration Opportunity!

Our names are Angelina Yorgova and Angela Qian, and we are members of the Society of Women Engineers chapter of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We are reaching out to let you know of an event we are organizing that would interest your students! Engineering Exploration is a co-ed in-person event for students in grades 6-8 aiming to help kids learn about the different disciplines of engineering through a series of fun activities and a design challenge. 

 

This event will take place on Saturday, March 2 from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm at Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory/Yeh Student Center, and you can enter from Matthews Ave. A parent/guardian is required to attend with their student. Lunch will be provided.

 

The registration form is linked here.  

This form closes on February 25, 2024 11:59 CST.

 

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. You can contact us at [email protected].

In case of remote learning

Kindergarten and 1st Graders

  1. Watch the Mystery Doug video about the moon. 

https://mysterydoug.com/mysteries/moon-travel?code=a880a7f910b59ed56b3535e4c52b6f5e

  1. Draw a picture of what you think it would look like to live on the moon.
2nd and 3rd Graders
 

Design a Boat to Float

PLAN/DESIGN:

  1. Sketch and label your design ideas on a piece of paper.

What materials will you use? Label your sketch with the materials that you will need.

(Suggested Materials: aluminum foil, pennies or other small weighted

objects, a container or a sink filled with water)

CREATE:

  1. Build your first boat.
  2. Test your design.

Does it float?

Make improvements if needed.

TEST/IMPROVE:

  1. Try adding one penny at a time to your boat.

Can you think of a way to improve your design so that it might hold more weight?
  • Additional Challenge Idea: try creating a boat using different types of materials (cardboard, styrofoam, etc). What design features work best?
4th-8th Graders
 
See remote learning day assignment under "classwork" in your STEM Google Classroom.

Interested in learning more about Artificial Intelligence?

MIT Graduate-Led Winter Enrichment Opportunity in Artificial Intelligence (Beginner Friendly)

Inspirit AI is a 25-hour enrichment program that introduces middle and high school students to fundamental artificial intelligence concepts in order to work through socially impactful projects in areas including art, healthcare, education, finance, and more. Developed and taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford and MIT, students receive a personalized, interdisciplinary learning experience with a student-instructor ratio of 5:1, and custom curriculum appropriate for complete beginners to more advanced students. Applications for our programs are now open and due October 15th. For our high school program, you can find more course information here and our HS application here. For our middle school programs, you can find our flyer here and our MS application here.

 

Remote Learning-January 4-18

STEM schedule for remote learning:
 
Friday January 8- Grades 4-8, lessons and assignments can be found in Google classroom. 
 
Friday January 15- Grades Kindergarten, 1, 2, & 3, lessons and assignments can be found in Seesaw.

Have a great Summer!

Hello everyone! I just wanted to remind you to complete your 2 STEM assignments and submit them through Google Classroom or Seesaw by the end of the day Friday, May 29th. 
 
Also, I wanted to tell the students what a great first year I had with them in the STEM lab. It isn't ending the way we thought, but I think we learned a lot both in the lab at school and in your lab at home! Remember, there are no mistakes in STEM! We learn from what doesn't work to grow in our thinking process and improve our designs. 
 
Have a great summer!

5/22 E-Learning (Grades K-3)

This week is all about coding. See the attached to do an unplugged coding activity. As always, this activity is in the STEM and Music Seesaw Account.
  • 1. Put your finger on the picture of the child. Make your plan. How will your partner get to the seesaw logo.
  • 2. Color in boxes to show your partner where to move.
See below for an extra morse code challenge.
 

5/22 E-Learning (Grades 4-8)

Choose a project (See links below)
 
1.Create Your Own Code Design Challenge (Engineering Design Challenge 5(1).pdf) Make sure to follow and document all of the EDP steps.
 
2. Create a 3D design of the QAS school building in the future using Tinkercad. Use your imagination and creativity. Let me know what your greatest challenge was and how you solved it.
 
3. Spend some time coding on code.org or Scratch. Challenge yourself. After completing a tutorial, create a code of your own! Let me know what your greatest challenge was and how you solved it.
 
Submit a picture or screenshot of your completed project to Google Classroom. Attach it to a google doc so you can reflect on your project.
 
If you haven't used Tinkercad before, sign in using your google account and start with the tutorials. You can submit a screenshot of a tutorial project for credit.
 
** Note, I am unable to access links to Scratch or Tinkercad projects.
 
If you would like to save your code and add to it from week to week, create an account. You can do the same with Scratch.
 
Have a great summer!

5/15 E-Learning (Grades K-3)

 

This week we are going to focus on the Engineering Design Process As always, this project is also in the STEM and Music Seesaw Account.

Build a masterpiece! See what you can create with items from the attached list. You can work individually or ask your family to join you. 
 
Read or have a family member read all the items on the list.
Collect your items.
 
Make a plan for your masterpiece and begin building. Be creative and have fun? 
 
Describe the process for making it. What was the biggest challenge? How many points did you earn? 
 
Option: Before starting, create a design and draw it before you begin building. Test your design when building. Write down what worked and what needed to change?
 
Why: Children need many opportunities to explore, design, create and build. It is important for them to have time to think creatively, take risks, ask questions and be innovative. These skills are important building blocks to science, programming and engineering skills.
 

5/15 E-Learning (Grades 4-8)

Choose a project (See links below)
 
** Note, All assignments should be submitted through Google Classroom. 
 
1. Face Mask Engineering Design Challenge (Engineering Design Challenge 4.pdf) Make sure to follow all of the EDP steps.
 
2. Create a 3D design of a face mask or shield using Tinkercad. Let me know what your greatest challenge was and how you solved it.
 
3. Spend some time coding on code.org or Scratch. Challenge yourself. After completing a tutorial, create a code of your own! Let me know what your greatest challenge was and how you solved it.
 
Submit a picture or screenshot of your completed project to Google Classroom. Attach it to a google doc so you can reflect on your project.
 
If you haven't used Tinkercad before, sign in using your google account and start with the tutorials. You can submit a tutorial project for credit.
 
If you would like to save your code and add to it from week to week, create an account. You can do the same with Scratch.

5/8 E-Learning (Grades 4-8)

I have enjoyed seeing all of the collaboration and creativity in the STEM projects that have been submitted. I can't wait to see what you submit this week. Remember to challenge yourself!
 
Choose a project (See links below)

1.Tallest Structure Engineering Design Challenge (Engineering Design Challenge 3.pdf)
2. Create a 3D design celebrating Cinco de Mayo using Tinkercad
3. Spend some time coding on code.org or Scratch

Submit a picture or screenshot of your completed project to Google Classroom.

If you haven't used Tinkercad before, sign in using your google account and start with the tutorials. You can submit a tutorial project for credit.

If you would like to save your code in code.org and add to it from week to week, create an account. You can do the same with Scratch.