Every year our Grade 1 to Grade 8 students participate in the Annual STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Fair. This is a great opportunity for our Private School students to enhance their problem solving and public speaking skills. Students start working on their STEM projects in early January, and those in Grades 1-4 are judged upon their use of the scientific process, where they must observe something and try to hypothesize and explain why is has been seen. We had many great projects this year, including one that reviewed the density of objects such as raisins by seeing how they floated in water. Another looked at how well plants would grow depending on what they were given, whether water, milk, pop and other liquids.
Grades 5-8 RMS private school students are judged upon their use of the engineering process, which often times means designing a product (like a machine or computer code) that meets certain criteria and/or accomplishes a certain task to solve a problem. Some of the noteworthy examples this year included one group that engineered the idea of a peanut detector, whereas another set of students redesigned the standard garden rake to be more efficient.
Students were judged from parents and experts from multiple fields, and it was clear that they put in a lot of time and effort into their projects this year. Selecting the winners is not an easy process, but it allows us to recognize the exceptional efforts and creativity of those that followed the scientific process and the engineering process. Following the STEM Fair is a day of learning and fun for everyone! To celebrate the efforts of the students involved in the STEM Fair, on the second day we enjoyed a school wide bake sale and outdoor learning activities.
This was especially exciting for our Grade 4 students, who dressed up as scientists and helped take our younger students to the bake sale and to the learning stations outside. All students were able to participate in many learning games and stations, such as learning about density of multiple objects at the water station, learning about how to clean the ocean at the magnetic station and more! In many ways, these two days are some of the most exciting days of the year, as students look forward to showcasing their work, followed by a delicious snack and outdoor learning activity!
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.
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