Harrison Park Elementary School conducts monthly STEAM projects called “Junk Box Wars.”
STEAM activities incorporate science, technology, engineering, art, and math into one lesson. The Junk Box Wars projects encourage students to use their scientific knowledge to create and design a device. Students in kindergarten through fifth-grade work with a partner and are given a design challenge and a bag of “junk” to create a device that solves a specified task.
The first Junkbox War of this school year was called ‘Bounce Back to School.’ The students were tasked with creating two paddles in order to bounce a ping pong ball back and forth with a partner. The students were given paper, tape, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, a plastic spoon, and paper clips in order to complete the challenge.
Winners were named from each grade level, and the students enjoyed the educational and interactive project.
2nd-graders Logan Kostyak and Camden Schwer work as a team to build their paddles
2nd-grader Ryland Smith
4th-graders Caleb Traill and Beckett Burmeister
4th-graders Mackenzie Orendt, Amira Duvall, Gabrielle Foster, and Charlotte Thomas enjoy the team-based project
3rd-graders Mazzie Muller and Ella Breeger
2nd-graders Charles Heslop and Amelia Smith collaborate on their paddles
Kaiden Helle, grade 2
2nd-graders Alyona Krowchak and Gino Massarelli
3rd-graders Adedewa Adedimila and Ary Cianciotti
3rd-graders Paisley Sullivan, Abigail Strasser, and Madison Vasy