With a half-day of school before Christmas vacation, students in Ginger Rackley’s fifth grade class at Saluda Elementary made the most of the short day.
Rackley’s students spent the short day tackling a series of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) challenges.
Students had certain materials available to use to build sleighs. The sleighs were tested on various surfacesa, and students reviewed forces and motion during this activity.
“My students love to build and create and this activity allowed them to show their creative side,” Rackley said. “The students were only allowed to use certain materials and knew their sleigh needed to be able to slide over certain surfaces.
“This activity allowed us to review science concepts and incorporate math skills as they had to measure the distance their sleigh went in different units (inches, feet, centimeters, meters).”
