STEAM Survival Series Starts

Inspired by those two brave girls who recently survived being lost in the Northern California woods, our fifth graders will begin their STEAM Survival which includes a number of STEAM activities that relate to survival including solar ovens, water filters, and plant packets.

Outdoor Exploration
Today students will review the lengthy start of the series with lots of important information related to survival, maps, compasses, safe outdoor behavior, and more. Then we'll specifically review the design engineering steps related to creating water filters. After that students will engage in outdoor exploration with the following activities:hiking

• collecting materials for water filters
• collecting a water sample
• making maps of the area where we hike
• cleaning up the woods
• taking photos. 

Record Keeping, Reflection, and Presentation
Upon returning to school students will complete their study with these activities:

• organizing their materials in a gray bucket
• testing the water with a test strip
• recording their findings in their STEAM lab reports
• beginning their STEAM Survival slide show with the images they collected, map they made, and other information they noticed.

Creating Water Filters
Monday will conclude the first STEAM activity as students create water filters. First students will test their water again to see if there's been a change from sitting in the sun all weekend. Then they'll follow the directions they learn via a video and test the water that comes out of the filters. They'll compare the water sample from the unfiltered water samples to the sample of filtered water. Then, if there's time, they'll have the chance to make another filter to see if they can clean up the water even more.  Finally they'll have time to update their lab reports and STEAM slide show with their findings.

Next Steps
The week will continue after that with plant packets and solar ovens.