Rockin' it in Fifth Grade: Rockin' the STEAM Field Trip to the TECH

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Rockin' the STEAM Field Trip to the TECH

The TECH Museum of Innovation in San Jose is an interactive science and technology learning center. It is an amazing place for STEAM learning and they cater to school field trips. We are a Title 1 school so admission and the science lab were free, and the IMAX was only $3 per person.

After four hours on the road, we made it!

We spent the first hour exploring the interactive exhibits.

Building with magnetic pieces

A viewing of Jupiter

Pedaling to create power

A view of the sun

Our next activity was to attend the IMAX movie, "National Parks Adventure." It celebrates the majesty of our National Parks. The IMAX at the TECH is a dome shape. This provides an amazing experience. You feel like you are flying.

After lunch we attended a Physics of Roller Coasters Lab. Students learned about the importance of support for a roller coaster. They then had a few challenges to complete.

The first challenge was to engineer a short track to get a marble into a cup. It had to be able to stand on it's own.

They tested their tracks.

They then needed to build one with a loop.

And test that one.

But not all were successful.

This one missed the cup.

This one came off the track.

After the lab, there was time for more exploration, like making seismic waves,

pedaling to create power,

experiencing an earthquake,

and designing a roller coaster on the computer, then experiencing it.

These are just a few of the interactive exhibits at The TECH.

In total, it was a 14 hour day for us, but so worth it!

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Meet Marianne

Marianne is a fifth grade teacher in Los Osos this year. She previously taught for Mariposa County Unified and Orcutt Union school districts. This is her 24th year in the educational field as a classroom teacher. Marianne is committed to providing students with an innovative 21st century curriculum that includes engaging, high quality instruction to expand students' opportunities for learning. This requires taking risks to get results, like when she moved all the desks out of her classroom in pursuit of new ways to use best practices to highly engage students. In order to prepare students to be future ready, she provides structures for learning through teamwork and whole class activities, which allow students to interact, think creatively, and be a part of each other’s learning. She has successfully implemented 1:1 iPads and Chromebooks with her class. Marianne’s innovative use of technology, creative lesson design, collaboration with peers, continual pursuit of learning, and being a leader on campus earned her the Mariposa County Teacher of the Year award in 2015. She is also a CUE Rock Star Teacher.

The students in Marianne’s class, and their families, are kept well informed through her use of a closed class Facebook group, class Twitter feed, and Class Dojo. The messaging services on all three of these makes it possible for parents to easily and effectively communicate with her “after hours.”

Being a part of the school community is also important to Marianne. She believes that her work on campus does not end at the classroom door. She is fully committed to the school as a whole, taking on extra duties like painting murals, heading up the spirit wear orders, organizing fundraisers, creating the yearbook, managing the school’s Facebook page, providing professional development to other teachers, and being on the Leadership Team and Educational Technology Team.