Continue reading »]]> For our last two meetings of the Harley School Girl’s STEM Club fall session, I decided to get back to the basics of our club: building.  These girls love to build with anything they can get their hands on! It is my hope that with more exposure to building, the girls will develop a passion for STEM.  For the past two weeks, the girls were presented with the task of building constructions to mimic what they would see in the popular game- Minecraft!  In Minecraft, the kids get to craft a world of their own!  There are animals,farms, cities, and everything in between.   You are only limited by your own imagination. If you have walked the halls of an elementary school, chances are you have heard about Minecraft.  Kids today can’t seem to get enough of it. They love building constructions out of 3D cubes.  Boys and girls are wearing shirts, playing with stuffed animals and toys, and playing the video game to their hearts content.  For me, I saw this as an opportunity to take the game past the computer! I thought we could build some of these constructions in real life. For the last two sessions of STEM club, the girls were presented with the idea of building Minecraft-like structures.  The building materials used would be Legos or Brackitz.  We talked about how the basis of Minecraft building is with a 3D cube.  The first thing we did was sit down to discuss the geometric shape of the cube.  It was easy to see a cube in legos, but Brackitz required a bit of work.  They had to construct their cubes first, and then build with it. This took them a couple of attempts and lots of great math thinking!  The girls were given a choice of what materials they would like to build with.

Attempting to make a cube with Brackitz

The next step was learning how to build Minecraft structures.  The girls explored blueprints and 3D structures.  We discussed how to crate a flat 2D shape following the blueprint and also how to construct 3D ones.  They had their choice to craft people, animals, or buildings, they could make them 2D or 3D, and also chose their materials to build with.  There was a lot to think about.

the making of a pig!

Claire decided to build a lighthouse

The girls decided what was their design-challenge would be  and got to work.  Emily and Claire chose Brackitz.  They loved the challenge of building with these and could not wait to start constructing the 3D cubes.   Elizabeth, Isabel, and Ali chose to follow the blueprints and create a 2D structure.  They decided to make a creeper and Steve.  Excellent choices.

A 2D creeper!

both girls busy at work!

Addy, Elizabeth, and Maddy decided to build a 3D animal.  2 foxes and a chicken would be added to our creations.

Minecraft foxes are off to a great start!

This project took two sessions to complete. They were extremely focused on the task at hand.

great team work!

Claire has made a lighthouse! Now to give it some color!

The 2D shapes are coming along.  The girls had no trouble following the blueprint!

The finished product

Steve

The animals were so cute!  We wish we could take them home!

Do these spikes look good on him?

It is really starting to look like a chicken!

a finished chicken

Once the feet were build, the rest of the chicken came together rather quickly.        

The buildings were not an easy design task.  The girls carefully selected their pieces and worked hard both afternoons.

The girls with the brackets had a lot to think about.  Building, cutting, taping, and creating.  The girls were surprised how durable their structures were.  It was part of the design thinking.  If one part was weak, they had to think about how  to make it stronger.  There was a lot of trial and error, but in the end, they were proud of what they accomplished.  The lighthouse and the pig turned out great!

the finished lighthouse

side view of the pig

almost there

The finished pig!

The girls were all very proud of their work.  We hope to share the finished product and also our process at our lower school assembly.  We host it once a week for the school and parents to see what we are doing at our school.  Great building girls!

Continue reading »]]> Being a teacher, I am always on the lookout for the next great  educational toy.  When I wanted to add more STEM toys to my classroom, I went on the internet to find one or two really cool toys to buy.  (It was during the summer and I had plenty of time to research.)  That is when I stumbled upon Bionic Blox.

Bionic Blox are connector pieces to wooden blocks (like Keva Blocks). Children quickly and easily connect BionicStars with wooden blocks to build structures as big as they are! Masterpieces can be moved, saved, admired and added anytime, without risk of a collapse. The innocent pet cat or the curious younger sibling will not cause them to fall.  In a classroom with moving children, these seemed like the answer to many squabbles.

I ordered some and I admit I spent a few hours myself, with my 4 year old daughter, constructing and enjoying the possibilities.  Since I liked them so much, I wanted to make sure my STEM girls club had the chance to play with them.  (After all, they did get awarded the #1 STEM toy of the year.)

We started our club by reading the book Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin.  The girls giggled as they listened to the story of Farmer Brown and how his cows and hens found a typewriter and sent him a note demanding electric blankets.  The cows and hens went on strike until their requests were met.  In the end, they got what they wanted.

I added a separate note that said that the horses request a new barn to be built.  The girls task was to design a very cool barn for them.  Bionic bloxs are perfect for constructing barns.

Here is what the girls built:

Maddy’s barn had stables, jumps, and gates. I love how she turned some of the blocks into horses. Such an imagination!

Olivia and Elizabeth’s Barn was inspired by some girl power music. They went big! This barn was huge with many stables, places for food, flatscreen TVs and a place with a roof. Great teamwork!

Olivia and Elizabeth’s Barn

Margo decided not to use many bionic blox because she liked just the plain blocks. She created a barn with stabled and rooms for food.

Here is the building process!

Overall, this was a great experience.  Next time I need to remember to bring play horses.  We LOVE these bionic blox!