Hands-on learning fun

e youngsters focused on creating the tepees, working in pairs to gure out the logistics of their creations. STEAM lab teacher Megan Arnold and kindergarten teacher e kindergartners said they had fun creating the projects, experimenting with what would work best. Leighton Peters and Audrey Searle, for example, added a person resting outside the tepee and a stick at the top of the tepee to let the smoke out and for a ag. e kindergartners learned about tribes on the plains and on the West e plains Native Americans wore moccasins and followed the bu alo, which provided food and clothing. Tribes used bu alo hooves to make glue, horns to make spoons and dung to make re. Tepees are like tents because they are easily movable, the kindergartners said. e STEAM lab is new at RMAE this year, a space speci cally for students to create as part of the school’s CORE curriculum, according to Schwinn.

Mikela Schwinn walked around the room, answering questions and helping as needed.

Each tepee was on a cardboard base so it could be moved easily.

Coast of the United States. Schwinn reviewed what the class learned before the tepee exercise.

Native Americans in the Paci c Northwest ate a lot of salmon, lived in plank houses and made totem poles, they added.

Some classes visit the STEAM lab weekly while other classes visit at the end of learning units to create hands-on projects. Arnold is collecting project ideas that can be used with a variety of education units, hoping to help teachers use many hands-on activities.

“We’re taking projects to the next level,” Arnold said. “Students can do a worksheet and talk about it, or they can come to the lab where it takes learning to the next level. For me, it’s been really fun to collaborate with other teachers.”

For Schwinn, bringing kindergartners to the STEAM lab to create projects is both fun and educational. “It’s amazing that we now have this space,” she said. “I love this room.”

Curt & Carol Linke

Elk Creek Fire is one of three fire departments considering consolidation.