Recently Grade 3 students at our award-winning Brampton private school at the RMS Academy Campus were posed with a question of what they would do with the increasing number of plastic water bottles and plastic bags that generate large amounts of garbage in our communities. Teachers and students discussed how some of this plastic garbage is dumped into the oceans, harming marine life, polluting soil and compromising the quality of earth. According to research conducted by the plastic pollution coalition organization, by 2050 the oceans will contain more plastic than fish by weight. This is a concern, so we asked students how to help reduce or eliminate plastic, and assigned them the task of creating structures using plastic water bottles and plastic bags.
Using the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics) approach, each student stuffed plastic bags into plastic water bottles to strengthen the bottle and to build stable and useful structures. Each group sketched the structure that they wanted to build, and together they built a couch, a bookshelf, a step stool and a coffee table! The science component included building stable structures, the math component involved measuring and weighing the structures. With this project, students researched the effects of plastic pollution and they prepared a Google slide that displayed their research. In art class, they painted, and decorated their structures.
These are the types of problems that we challenge our students to solve. This year we will be holding the Annual STEM Fair with the theme “Mad About STEM” on Friday, April 27, 2018. We invite our RMS parents to this activity, and the agenda can be found on myRMS. We will also be holding a bake sale in order to purchase new science materials for all grade levels. This should be a great learning opportunity for all and we look forward to seeing all of the great experiments from our students.
We look forward to seeing you and sharing with you the private school community of which we are so proud!
To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:30am-3:00pm.
More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here.
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