Fourth quarter STEAMing right along with creative lessons

Science!

Park Avenue second-graders participated in hands-on learning this month with Ashley Hickey, a conservation educator from the Orange County Water Authority

The students had a great time checking out a groundwater model and observing live insects and animals from a local creek. 

They also got to "travel" the path of a water droplet, proceeding through a series of stations that represented the different parts of the water cycle.

They collected colored beads at each station and used them to make bracelets as a reminder of what they learned on their "journeys."

Art!

Warwick Valley High School students in art teacher Kristen Spano's class have been learning new mediums and techniques. In a recent session, the artists were using white charcoal on black paper to sketch objects using planes, guidelines, symmetry, and shapes.

To begin the lesson, Ms. Spano explained that when sketching objects you can think of them as being composed of various forms, such as cube, a sphere, or cylinder. They learned that in order to draw something that appears to have volume and dimension, they have to first create a line of symmetry. Then, use that line and the forms to build out the dimension and the shape of their subjects -- bottles and skulls.

"The biggest challenge for the students is to capture a range of values, only using white on black paper," Ms. Spano said. "It's not an easy task, and they are doing a good job!"