Mrs

Mrs. Rittenhouse’s fifth grade class at Pleasant Gap Elementary wrapped up their ELA module with a memorable hands-on STEM experience.After reading informational articles about the Australian bush fires, the Johnstown Flood, and the eruption of Mount St. Helens, students used text evidence to identify the real-life dangers people faced in these extreme disasters. From raging fires to powerful floodwaters and volcanic destruction, students analyzed the obstacles survivors had to navigate.Students then designed and illustrated detailed maps of these hazardous environments, carefully placing the obstacles they had researched. Their final challenge was to program classroom robots to travel safely through the maps without hitting any dangers.The room buzzed with excitement as students tested, problem-solved, and adjusted their coding. This creative project blended reading, critical thinking, engineering, and technology — and proved that literacy can power real-world problem solving.

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Posted: 15 days ago, Bellefonte Area School District