RA Principal Andy Pemrick asks a question about the student-built solar ovens.
Rocket launchers, bacteria growth and robotic hands may not sound like something you’d find at a school for students with special needs, but that’s exactly how students at Rensselaer Academy spent part of their day on May 20. It was the school’s second STEM day offering students more than a dozen different hands-on activities – each related to a component of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
Each class worked on a different activity and also had time to visit other classes to see what they were working on.
In one class, students built boats out of aluminum foil and tested them to see which boat could hold the most plastic counting bears. Down the hall, students constructed a container to hold an egg hoping it would survive the fall from the roof in one piece.
3, 2, 1, lift off!
Outside, a PVC pipe “launching pad” used forced air to shoot a foam rocket into the air. The rocket even had an altitude tracker so students could see whose launch went the highest. The most fun part- the forced air came from students jumping on an empty soda bottle attached to the launch pad!
Before STEM day, Ms. Horan’s class swabbed various surfaces around the school, including a telephone, the bathroom door handle, the outside door, a computer mouse, and one student’s arm and hair. They let the samples sit to see which grew the most bacteria, and there were some shocked reactions from students and staff when the samples were revealed!
Principal Andy Pemrick says events like this are great for the students.
“STEM is huge right now, doing this is a nice break from the typical math, history and English every day. Kids need to do new things every now and then.”
This was the second STEM day at RA. The first was held a few weeks ago to gauge student interest and involvement, as well as give the concept a “test run” during the school day.
Director of Special Education Robin Sobol praised the staff at Rensselaer Academy for the day’s activities.
“Andy Pemrick and his staff did a great job offering these activities to the students. We need to have our kids involved in STEM because it is everywhere. Getting kids to think creatively and learning how things work is vital to their success,” Sobol said.
