A STEAM Cow (Cart on Wheels) will be unveiled Thursday morning.
The Katz JCC’s Sari Isdaner Early Childhood Center will unveil the newest component to its STEAM curriculum, a STEAM COW on Thursday beginning at 9:45a.m. The STEAM Cow will bring an interactive component to learning for children ages 3 and up.
To kick off the unveiling of the STEAM Cow, local educator Nature Jack will lead a hands-on, interactive STEAM lesson with students. Nature Jack is the nickname Jack Marine has chosen because of his extensive experience as a science teacher, camp counselor and organic gardener. He holds a master’s degree in education and introduces science to young children while meeting New Jersey student learning standards.
Nature Jack’s lesson will focus on Super-Duper Polymers, which are large and long molecules linked together and surrounded by chemical bonds. Most rubber and plastic materials are made out of polymers. The lesson will start out showing children many different objects that are made out of polymers like rubber balls, water bottles, toys and jelly beans. In a scientifically sound activity, Nature Jack will lead children in hands-on and engaging procedures to model how when water interacts with a polymer powder it will expand fifty times its original size! Nature Jack will also mix clear school glue, also a polymer, with water and Borax laundry booster to change its configuration from a liquid to a solid. Each child will take home two soufflé cups with the polymers they made for extended play at home.
In addition to the STEAM lessons taking place in classrooms, the STEAM Cow will visit classrooms once a week. The Sari Isdaner Early Childhood Center’s STEAM curriculum encourages students to collaborate through academic challenges, prompting them to think, take risks and work together.
To attend the unveiling of the STEAM Cow, stop by the Sari Isdaner Early Childhood Center on Thursday. There will be five total sessions with Nature Jack, starting from 9:45 to 11:40 a.m. and then again from 1 to 2:15 p.m. Each session will be 30 minutes long.
