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 March Junkbox War was called “Pot of Gold.” Students were tasked with building a pot that would hold the most gold in it before sinking. Each team of students received a bag of assorted items including a rubber band, tongue depressors, cotton swabs, a notecard, pipe cleaner, paper clip, straw, aluminum foil, and a roll of tape.
Winners were named from each grade level, and the students enjoyed the educational and interactive project.
4th-graders Liam Walker and Jacob Dolhi build their pot of gold
Teammates Nolan Phan and Nico Leombruno (grade 4)
2nd-graders Cruz Kamensky and Gemma Page work together on the project
Cassidy Stein and her partner add ‘gold’ in hopes that their pot will not sink
Mrs. Lathom’s 2nd-grade class gets ready to test their pots to see how much gold they can hold
Ruby Knaresborough and Julia Israel, grade 3
5th-graders Luke Wonnacott and Maxx Allen
