Sturgeon Heights students are launching rockets and gaming with robots this fall as part of new program meant to get them interested in STEAM.
The Gazette checked with the new STEAM Academy program in last week at Sturgeon Heights School. The academy was one of a growing number of programs in the St. Albert-Sturgeon region to use project-based learning to get students interested in science and engineering.
Sturgeon Heights launched the STEAM Academy in September as a way to get students interested in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math (STEAM), said teacher Connor Robertson.
“STEAM is where a lot of the job market looks like it’s headed,” he said, and this program would help prepare youths for it.
Robertson said the 24 students in the academy (12 girls and 12 boys) spend two afternoons a week learning about art, flight, coding, robotics, 3D-printing, electricity, and other topics, with the rest of their time spent in regular classes. The academy operated out of the school’s library for now, but he hoped to move it to a dedicated classroom next year. Academy sessions typically consist of a short lesson followed by a hands-on challenge.
Last Wednesday’s session saw Robertson lobbing a green foam die around the library as part of a demonstration of probability. Students rolled dice to calculate the odds of getting any one number, then used laptops to program tiny computers called Micro Bits to act as regular or loaded dice.
“This is how kids enjoy learning,” Robertson said.
“We want to get kids excited about these subjects.”
Other days have seen students use physics and aerodynamics to launch paper rockets and lob marbles with catapults, Robertson said. Students have had to troubleshoot solutions to problems and apply various lessons from the curriculum.
Grade 5 student Brooke Dunwoody said she enrolled in the academy because she was interested in building and designing things, having built cars and musical instruments in previous grades. She turned a Micro Bit into a rock-paper-scissors robot earlier this fall which fared pretty well against those of her classmates.
“I like this class a lot because it’s not just sitting down and reading a book,” Dunwoody said.
“We’re getting up and we’re building stuff.”
Robertson said he hoped to have academy members participate in the Edmonton Science Olympics and Skills Canada challenges. He also planned to hold field trips to the Telus World of Science in Edmonton and to call in guest speakers. By the end of the school year, each student should have a portfolio of projects they could use to show parents what they learned.
Robertson said his students seemed highly engaged with learning in the academy and looked forward to it every day.
“When I see them in the hall, they say, ‘What are we doing for STEAM? What’s our next project?’”
Robertson said he hoped to open the academy to more students next year.
Visit www.sturgeonheights.ca/programs/steam-academy for details on the academy.
