Nearly 900 third graders in the Campbell Union School District participated in their first Inquiry & Innovation Day on Thursday, March 5th. Thirty-five volunteers from Assistance League of Los Gatos-Saratoga led a STEM lesson integrating the new science practices and the CUSD’s Profile of Graduate competencies around critical thinking and innovation. The lesson was designed to encourage curiosity, observation, and innovative ideas.
Our volunteers introduced the 8-year-olds to Ada Lace On The Case, a book by Emily Calandrelli about a third-grade girl who starts closely observing and asking questions about the world around her. Then they demonstrated an experiment using a glass of water and a small orange.
“If I put the orange in the water, do you think it will sink or float?” they asked the students. When the orange floats, they ask the students for their ideas about why it floats. Then, they remove the peel, the orange sinks, and students offer ideas again.
“Maybe the peel is like the sides of a boat, holding up what’s inside,” said Xander. “I think it’s floating because the oils in the peel float in the water,” said Leon.
The lesson, which aligns with Next Generation Science Standards, continued with students asking questions and exchanging ideas around what happened. Students discussed how they could do more research on the topic and how that might lead to opportunities for more innovations. The activity concluded with each student receiving a personal copy of the Ada Lace book and a bookmark.
Inquiry & Innovation Day, a part of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) was a first for our chapter and enthusiastically embraced by our volunteers who all attended a training session before presenting in 35 classrooms and is an example of a new Done-in-a-Day Project.
Our volunteers introduced the 8-year-olds to Ada Lace On The Case, a book by Emily Calandrelli about a third-grade girl who starts closely observing and asking questions about the world around her. Then they demonstrated an experiment using a glass of water and a small orange.
“If I put the orange in the water, do you think it will sink or float?” they asked the students. When the orange floats, they ask the students for their ideas about why it floats. Then, they remove the peel, the orange sinks, and students offer ideas again.
“Maybe the peel is like the sides of a boat, holding up what’s inside,” said Xander. “I think it’s floating because the oils in the peel float in the water,” said Leon.
The lesson, which aligns with Next Generation Science Standards, continued with students asking questions and exchanging ideas around what happened. Students discussed how they could do more research on the topic and how that might lead to opportunities for more innovations. The activity concluded with each student receiving a personal copy of the Ada Lace book and a bookmark.
Inquiry & Innovation Day, a part of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) was a first for our chapter and enthusiastically embraced by our volunteers who all attended a training session before presenting in 35 classrooms and is an example of a new Done-in-a-Day Project.
