We’re getting close to the end of 2020 and announcing one of our final EdTech grant recipients of the year. We’ve presented our November award to Charnley DeMeritt, a STEM lab teacher at Oakview Elementary in Simpsonville, SC! Part of the Greenville School System, Charnley’s STEAM lab has evolved into a place for students to experiment and think critically. They also learn both hard and soft skills from their initial failures. So, we’re excited to help Charnley and her students by providing some Squishy Circuits kits for them!
Charnley works primarily with third grade students. So far, she’s helped them build a general understanding of electricity and circuitry through other STEAM lessons. Looking to use the Squishy Circuits kits to expand on student knowledge, Charnley is planning to create lessons that incorporate some of the most important concepts they have studied, like matter. Since the dough within the Squishy Circuits kit is conductive, kids can explore how and why it can conduct electricity. They'll even see how it can power the various types of basic circuits they created. Then, she’ll introduce a STEAM challenge for creating models of actual objects with different electronic components. These all come in the kit, including a light, motor, buzzer, and switch!
Charnley sees the possibilities that STEAM tools, like the Squishy Circuits kits, provide for young students as almost endless. Knowing that experiences infused with STEM connections drive students' curiosity and achievement, she truly believes in this potential. She also knows engagement is key while students bolster critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The problem-based element also helps them truly demonstrate the knowledge they’ve gained by applying it in an active experiment. Building on previous lessons and the benefits they've created, including being more willing to fail and take risks, Charnley is poised to help her students continue to thrive!
With the Squishy Circuits kit, Charnley plans to adapt a lesson from her past. It involves using the Makey Makey and helping students explore and understand the concepts inside electrical circuits. She hopes to elevate their understanding of how circuits work. This close-up view with the Squishy Circuits should help them think beyond their traditional perceptions. Of course, she’ll challenge them to be as creative as they can, designing squishy objects in whatever shapes they want. We’re sure there will be animals, machines, and other structures. Once built, students will then add electrical components to make them interactive!
To that end, we're providing Charnley with two Squishy Circuits Group Kits. These include battery holders, the buzzers, the motors and fan blades, the switches, and 80 LED lights. Her students will be able to begin building and experimenting with conductive dough right away! Charnley has already started thinking about how to tie her projects with Squishy Circuits to South Carolina standards. She’ll be showing students how they can obtain and communicate information to develop models that show electrical energy transforming into other forms of energy. Other applications include using the kits in projects with students developing and using models to describe the path of an electric current, construct a device to solve for a specific need, construct explanations of phenomena using scientific evidence, and more!
As she said in her application, Charnley feels very fortunate to be at a school with leaders who understand the importance and value of STEAM education. She knows how important it is as students fully prepare for success in the 21st century. And, we’re happy to play a role in creating those hands-on experiences. She’s worked hard to fund various STEAM projects for students and we’re excited for the chance to help! She’s even spent her own money to provide students with impactful STEAM experiences and we know she’s not alone there. The Squishy STEM Challenge she’ll soon be implementing will serve as another way for her to push her students’ thinking and engage them in some experiences they might not otherwise get to have.
We’re excited to see what Charnley and her students accomplish and are glad this latest award is going to yet another educator who’s committed to doing everything to help students succeed. If you’d like to apply for our grant award for the month of December, you can find the application on our site. That deadline to apply is Dec. 20 and we'll announce the recipient before the end of the calendar month. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram, too, for all of the latest updates from the world of STEM education. We will also be sharing any photos or videos we receive from the STEM lab at Oakview Elementary!