• Fourth Grade Maker Challenge

    The second annual Fourth Grade Maker Challenge wrapped up in January 2019. This 2018-2019 challenge was in collaboration with IU Health, the local hospital in Bloomington. IU Health is building a new hospital on the east side of town, so our challenge focused on improving the quality of life for children in the hospital. Students and teachers could choose from one of the three challenges listed below:

    • Create a device that improves the quality of life for all.
    • Create activities for children at the hospital.
    • Design the children’s space at the hospital.

    IU Health provided a pediatrician, physical therapist, and member of their new hospital planning team to give the students an introduction to the challenge. To see the introduction video, click here.  

    MC1   MC2   MC3

    Teachers led students through an interdisciplinary project-based learning (PBL) unit that included reading, math, science, social studies, and computer science. The lesson launched with the non-fiction picture book, Biomedical Engineering and Human Body Systems, then led students to research on their iPads. Students worked in teams to choose one of the three challenges listed above. Then, they used the supplies listed in the table below to create a prototype to solve the challenge.  Students also focused on empathy, a component of our social and emotional learning curriculum.

    MC4

    At the completion of the project, students used Google slides to collaborate with their group members to highlight the engineering design process used to create their prototypes. The use of productive technology meets some of the state’s computer science standards.

    MC5   MC6   MC7

    Winners were chosen based on originality, style, value and presentation. School winners were collected and judged at the district level by a team of MCCSC administrators and IU Health professionals. All 13 winning school projects were featured at the CoLab in January. Click here to see a video of the winning projects, including the reveal of our district level winners.

    For the 2019-2020 school year, we have partnered with the City of Bloomington for an environmental challenge.  The Maker Challenge will take place in November and December with the showcase in January.  If you are interested helping with this project, please contact Katy Sparks, our district STEM and Computer Science Coach, at kesparks@mccsc.edu.