Tag: STEAM

On Tuesday, June 5, Grade 4 students presented their two-part interactive museum with Gold Rush perspective and question boards about landmarks and events in Vancouver.

As an extension of their Science unit on electricity, students worked with Makey Makey and Scratch coding to make interactive paintings that helped to share different perspectives on the British Columbia Gold Rush. The paintings were inspired by First Nations Artists Jane Ash Poitras and George Littlechild. When visitors touched conductive materials on the boards, a recording of students’ voices would sound sharing an individual’s unique perspective.

Students also created question and answer boards about special places and events that helped to shape the city. They used their new knowledge about electricity and completing a circuit to test visitors on how well they know our city. When visitors matched the question to the right answer a light bulb would light up. Visitors enjoyed following a map of Vancouver and stamping each landmark as they completed the questions! The girls did a great job of creating an interactive and engaging exhibit. Well done!

Grade Four Teachers, Madeleine Abbott and Danika Murray designed and led this project, and Science Teacher, Lela Ling, and STEAM Coordinator, Jennifer Ford Sharpe assisted with the electricity component of the project.

This year, Grade Three Yorkies have been part of a Roots of Empathy inspired project where they got to know two babies: Wyatt, son of Nicole Sobieski, and Finley, son of Megan Dalziel.

In the fall students began having visits from Ms. Sobieski and baby Wyatt. With our Junior School Librarian, Ms. Webb, the students learned about baby Wyatt, how he was growing, and what he needs to feel happy and safe. Throughout the year, these visits continued and were supported with lessons on the developing brain and how babies learn.

To build on and apply this knowledge, students were given the task to create a toy that would help a baby learn at their stage of development. Class 3Y designed a toy for baby Wyatt who was 8 months old and 3H designed for baby Finely at 13 months old. Students gained empathy for their baby by observing what they could do and learning about what babies that age typically do next.

To help the Grade 3 students learn about toy designers and making toys for babies, the students had a Skype interview with York House Alum and founder of Monti Toys, Zahra Kassam. Zahra talked about how she designs toys based on her knowledge of early childhood development, ways to test toys with babies and ensure they are safe.

Over the next few weeks, students design and built their toys. Many toys encouraged babies to crawl, stand or even walk. Other toys help babies with matching, spatial awareness, and understanding cause and effect. The highlight was sharing toys with the babies and observing them interact with them!

This project was a collaboration with Carly Trinder, June Nolan, Karen Webb, Jennifer Sharpe, and Susan Sobieski. A special thank you to Zahra Kassam for speaking with the girls and to Wyatt and Finley and their families Nicole Sobieski, Mireille Lo, and Megan Dalziel.