May the 4th Be With You

In honor of May 4th, my 7th grade STEAM class had the option today of making mini light sabers and paper circuits. Those that opted to do the project really got into it and were happy with their end product. It is fun for me to experience working with the older students when I'm so used to the K-5 group. I showed them an example, talked very briefly about the components of a circuit (it was a review for them), showed them the materials available (LED lights, coin cell batteries, copper tape, paper, straws, and duct tape) and told them to tinker away. It's great giving this older group more independence and being more of a facilitator, as it allows me to see where their ideas take them as it's often places I wouldn't have thought of myself!