Frank Webb's Bath & Lighting Center Grant: Ready, Set, Science!
- School Year: 2017-2018
- Applicants: Jennifer La Forte, Lead Teacher Kim Ashworth, Barbara Flores
- School: Morley
- Subjects: Language Arts, Science, Technology
The Morley Elementary School first grade team is providing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, specifically in the areas of earth science and engineering. The initiative they are integrating for all grade 1 students next year has two parts: The first involves a field trip to the Gengras Planetarium show “Clockwork Skies.” Located within the Children’s Museum in West Hartford, this presentation leads students in an observation of the movements of the sun, moon and planets through a live tour of the night sky. A planetarium astronomist will highlight the repeating sky patterns such as the phases of the moon and constellations of the seasons. The second part involves a visit to our school by Children’s Museum educators for an engineering workshop. The presenters will guide our students to use critical thinking skills while inventing a new machine, using what they know from prior foundational physics lessons on motion, pushes and pulls.Together, both experiences will offer our students a much deeper understanding of these core STEM concepts than we could provide in the classroom alone.