STEM
Preschool – Kindergarten – Elementary
Where kids learn, play, grow, and thrive!
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It represents the need to focus on21 st century skills for the modern information age.
What does it involve?
At MCH, we teach science and math through our traditional core programming, and we also have an extra weekly STEM enrichment class in our Kindergarten and Elementary programs. In our Preschool class, we explore STEM through science experiments and demonstrations at group time, as well as age- appropriate variations of the Kindergarten and Elementary activities described below.
Some of the activities we have done recently include:
01. Biology Experiments Exploring:
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Plant phototaxis
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Plant transpiration
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The effect of ocean acidification on oyster shells
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Culturing bacteria
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Viewing microorganisms with our digital microscope
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Live yeast budding & fermentation
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Chlorophyll extraction and fluorescence
02. Chemistry Experiments & Demonstrations:
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Acid and base chemistry
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Anthocyanins & Acolor change
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Liquid chromatography with fall leaves
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Electroplating brass with copper
03. Computers & Electronics:
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Investigation of computer components and basics of computer science
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Hands-on demolition of a computer, viewing all of the internal components
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Taking apart various electronics to see how they work (ink-jet printer, wireless doorbell)
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Experimenting with electricity & circuitry (Snap Circuits)
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Elementary class will assemble a working computer from components each spring
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Coding in Scratch
04. Engineering:
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Building challenges
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Lego engineering
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Simple machines
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Demonstration of hydraulic systems
05. Math
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Mathematical patterns in art & nature (Fibbonacci’s sequence, etc.)
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Math games