Edison Elementary Holds First All-School STEM Event

ELMHURST, IL — The Edison Elementary School MakerSpace, named Edison Studio, held its first-ever all-school Maker/STEM event in December. The district said regular classroom schedules were paused for the entire afternoon so that all Edison students could engage in various Maker/STEM activities around the school.

The afternoon’s activities centered around building, engineering, coding, collaboration, problem solving and creativity.

With the support of the District 205 Foundation, the Elmhurst Public Library and the Edison PTA, Edison Studio crafted many activities to foster future-ready learning in Edison Elementary students, according to the district.

The district said activities at each grade level during the STEM afternoon included:

• Kindergartners got their hands on Magna-Tiles to make flowers, bridges and trains. They also participated in a coding activity using Code Hopper mats.
• The Art Room became a construction zone when first grade students designed and built rain shelters for Elephant and Piggie (stars of a popular book series), with Popsicle sticks, cardboard, laminate and other materials. They also wrote some code with Scratch Jr.
• In the Music Room, second graders made community structures and infrastructure elements for "Glow Communities" out of cardboard, plastic bottles, card stock and lit them up with Glow Sticks. They also designed plank trails and coded robots to follow all the twists and turns.
• In the Multi-Purpose Room, third graders built and raced "junk boats" out of recyclable items like cardboard, plastic tubs, straws, pipe cleaners, plastic and duct tape. They also built and coded Lego WeDo devices, courtesy of Lori Hoegler and Shaira Rock from the Elmhurst Public Library.
• Fourth graders coded robots to take tours across the USA to visit national parks or state capitals. They also engineered ways to make a Matchbox car move without touching it; using balloons, string, straws and other materials not normally used by auto engineers.
• Fifth graders learned about castles and then put their learning into action by building castles with working drawbridges, flags and a keep. They also engineered a two-finger grabber device from only a small bagful of items like rubber bands, Popsicle sticks, a fork and a spoon.

Photos provided by District 205.