Zanewood Community STEAM School families gather for STEAMfest

On the evening of May 22, students, families and staff from Zanewood Community STEAM School gathered to show off a year’s worth of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) learning and celebrate another successful school year. 

The STEAMfest took place both indoors and outdoors on the beautiful evening. Outside, drummers put on a performance with Japanese Taiko drums. Students could play games such as bean bag toss, Connect Four and Giant Jenga. Families enjoyed a meal of Chick-fil-A and cotton candy together. Attendees also could visit tables from a variety of community partners, including FACE, Boston Scientific and the Three Rivers Park District, who brought a turtle that students could pet.

Inside, families and students moved around the school, viewing the projects each grade level focused on this school year. Projects included: 

• Pre-kindergarten students explored the essential role of wolves in keeping nature in balance.
• Kindergarten students took on the role of pinball engineers as they investigated the effects of forces on the motion of an object, testing their own models of a pinball machine. 
• First grade students applied their understanding of plant and animal defense structures to design organisms where there are predators. 
• Second grade students conducted hands-on investigation to observe properties of a variety of glue ingredients and learned how certain materials responded to heating and cooling before developing their own glue recipes. 
• Third grade students worked together to investigate endangered species, researching their ideal habitat and investigating what they need to survive. 
• Fourth grade students observed erosion and asked questions about what impacts erosion, exploring different models of how erosion is prevented and managed, and developing an erosion prevention model to test.
• Fifth grade students studied the ecosystems and learned about the importance of healthy soil, creating a model of an ecosystem simulation and performing soil observations and experiments in the Zanewood garden.