Campbell STEAM Showcase 2018

The enthusiasm was infectious March 28th on the grounds of Monroe Middle School! Everywhere parents, students, and teachers from Campbell Union School District explored and celebrated student innovation and creativity in Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) at this year’s STEAM Showcase 2018!

Hosted by Campbell Union School District, over 47 exhibits highlighted maker projects and products from TK to 8th-grade students, RAFT, local libraries, and other groups.

Those who visited our RAFT table received kits made with the generous support from employees at ON Semiconductor. Over 200 kits (each serving 10 students) were handed out for free to teachers and students, impacting a total of 2,000 students with creative hands-on STEAM activities!

The RAFT table was constantly full of curious folks, including students eager to investigate and ask questions about the array of exhibits and kits we offered, which included the following:

Motorized Shake Table
Wind at Work
Simple Telescope
Black and White Makes Color
Colors of Light
Gravity Defying Frog
Critter Capsule
Tongue Depressor Harmonica

Comments

Science fairs: Nurturing the 21st century thinker

3D Tessellation model A bespectacled 6th grader enthusiastically explains ‘efficiency of 3D space tessellations’ with myriad equations and handmade tessellation patterns to address the needs of the packaging, storing, shipping and construction industry. Another middle school student, was inspired by his little brother’s telescope and built a simple vacuum chamber using a PVC pipe with a microphone and a speaker on both ends to find out how sound travels on Mars! This 8th grader from Granada Islamic School used an oscilloscope his mother found at an auction to measure the sounds. “I poke around and find junk to build my projects. It’s fun.” Science projects today have become fun for many students as they use more hands on activities to experiment and understand concepts. These two middle school students were among 996 participants at the recent Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship , where RAFT was one of the special judges. Moenes Iskarous, President, S

Plastic to art that’s fantastic!

With Valentine’s Day round the corner, one of RAFT ’s upcoming weekend workshops – ‘Shrink Art Fun’ shows you how to recycle plastic into awesome shrink art! This year learn how to make some meaningful gifts using donated plastic material, available at RAFT in the form of trays and take-out containers, thus preventing them from ending up in a landfill. Shrink plastics encourage creativity, and can be used to supplement a variety of classroom activities. Students can create models, manipulatives, and displays. They can make maps, pins, book report characters, and even cards! But there is also a science behind this hands on art form! Says Instructor Georgina Patterson, who has been in the education field for 40 years, “The science behind the shrinkage process is a chemistry lesson in itself, and the excitement young children get when they watch the plastic change size in the oven is worth the effort!” The base material consists of thin, flexible polystyrene plastic (#6) sheets

Thank Goodness for Moms!

Mother’s Day is a great time to recognize one of the most important educators in a student’s life—Mom! I’m so grateful for my own mother (now 91 years old) and all that she’s done for me over the years! She’s the one who gave me the courage to go to college (I’m the first in my family)! Though a mom myself and now a Yiayia (Greek for “grandma”), I often think about the lessons I learned from my mother and her generous love for family and friends. I say it’s truly fitting to celebrate all mothers! Throughout the world, people celebrate Mother’s Day on different days and in various forms. This year in the United States we honor mothers on Sunday, May 13 th . So just how did Mother’s Day begin? The American version of this holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Later on, Anna denounced the commercialization of Mother’s Day and spent a good portion of her later life trying to get it revoked, but it has stayed. Today we cont

RAFT Hands-On Education

Search This Blog