- West Orange Public Schools
- Homepage
Full “STREAM” Ahead at Edison Middle School
WEST ORANGE, NJ – Edison Middle School continued its cutting-edge access to STREAM opportunities at their first-ever STREAM Challenge Night on March 13.
“Edison Middle School hasn’t had a Science Fair/Challenge in the last 14 years and Principal Fitzgerald added it to his initiatives agenda for the school year 2018-19,” said Science teacher Chitra Ramchandani, who organized the event.
STREAM – Science, Technology, Reading/Robotics, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, the evolving hybrid of the original STEM focus in West Orange Schools, was on display in the interactive multigenerational family event designed by the EMS Science teachers.
Edison students helped to host the event, along with teacher guidance. They applied the Next Generation Science Standards to the activities and related those standards to the Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns, Cause and Effect, Scales/Proportions, Systems, Energy and Matter, Structure and Functions, Stability and Change.
Interactive activities and presentations included Lego Mindstorm Robots, (demonstrated by the WOHS Technology Student Association), Virtual Reality by the Engineering Exploration STEM Day Camp, 3D Printing, Penny Boat Challenge, Tall Tower Challenge, Structure Challenge, Cup Challenge, Art-Tesselations, Computer Coding, and the Powers of Ten.
STEM teacher William Fatica set up a hydroponics table to show how the hydroponics system aligns with the greenhouse built this year and located in the Edison Middle School’s community garden. (The garden is maintained by community organizations and also Edison Middle School’s Environmental Club.)
“The event had a spectacular turnout and created many special moments, such as young children teaching their grandparents how to use several types of modern technology,” said Assistant Principal Steve Melendez.
“More importantly, it showcased the skills that the students had been learning through the important first-hand experience of parents being present with them,” he explained.
“As a progressive learning community, our goal is to incorporate even more interactive activity at next year’s event,” noted Ramchandani, “and make the STREAM Challenge an annual event for EMS and the community to enjoy.”
March 20, 2019