K-6 online learning students digging into STEM opportunities
The table BILD students built in November to hold the weight of the food drive donations
BILD is the Huntingdon Area School District’s K-12 online learning program that offers fully online learning options as well as blended or hybrid learning options. In the 2024-25 school year, elementary BILD teacher Lindsay McCracken has made a real effort to include hands-on STEM learning experiences. These experiences have been cross-curricular and are teaching our online learning students resiliency, problem solving, collaboration and communication skills.
Each month, BILD teachers offer a STEM challenge at home with additional opportunities in person for students to come into the BILD classroom (housed at Southside Elementary) and work with their other BILD classmates. The experiences in person also have been done in collaboration with Southside Elementary’s Media Specialist/STEM teacher Erin Finkle.
The at-home STEM challenges were:
September: “Name Challenge” using the text “Your Name is a Song” by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
October: “Spider Parachutes” using the text “Diary of a Spider” by Doreen Cronin
November: “Turkey Balloon Races” using the text “The Great Turkey Race” by Steve Metzgar
There is one for each month and we get to see all of their excitement via video submissions and pictures that get uploaded into our learning management system, Canvas. Watch a highlight video of November’s at-home STEM challenge!
Bringing students in person monthly into the BILD room has been great because students get to socialize and problem solve with peers. There is a collaboration, turn taking, etc. These are all skills that are very important, but may not always get done at home as online student. Being a local program in the district allows a central location, close to students where they can participate in these activities.
In September students participated in a scarecrow challenge where they had to build a scarecrow who could withstand the wind of a blow dryer. In October, students built bone bridges or bridges out of cotton swabs that could withstand the weight of erasers. In November, the district’s most impactful STEM challenge occurred. The BILD students collaborated to build a table that could withstand the weight of donations they collected for a food drive that would benefit the Southside Elementary’s Backpack Program. They built their own individual mini tables and then created one big table with the help of a local business. This specific project taught a lot more than just science, technology, engineering and math. Watch a highlight video of the November STEM challenge!
The goal is to continue to offer both STEM challenges at home and in person to continue to offer students unique learning experiences that will create community, excitement for learning and so many other skills.