K – Kindergarteners engineered a noisemaker to use at parties or sporting events. Students had to comply with specific criteria and constraints with this design project in addition to communicating and compromising with their group members.
1st– First graders designed a bed for Pigeon with their partner so he would NOT stay up late! Using the design process, students empathized with Pigeon, determined the main problem, and drew a prototype of a bed which they redesigned based on their partner’s thoughts. Finally, students built the bed following the criteria and were able to share their final project with the class.
2nd– Second grade students worked with partners to create a new organism. After determining the type of animal, they described diet, adaptations, and fun facts. Meanwhile, the other half of the team created a habitat, taking into consideration all its’ features and the ideal living environment. Innovative ideas were in abundance as students were confined only by their own imaginations!
3rd– Third graders empathized with a character in a fairy tale story, and determined a problem they could fix (either preventative or reactionary). For example, in Goldilocks and the Three Bears teams either constructed a working door latch to prevent a break-in or built a stronger, more durable piece of furniture that would hold both the weight of Baby Bear and a potential heavier intruder. The ideated, sketched, and then built and tested their prototypes.
4th – Fourth graders are learning all about innovation! Our class example compared the traditional fan to the Dyson bladeless fan. Following the design process, students picked something at school or home to improve on and are learning the art of prototyping and using cardboard models to turn their ideas into reality.
5th– Students are off to an exciting start on their Science Fair projects! Their passions are coming through in their topic choices after lots of research in class. Templates for the scientific method were started at school, although most of the work (including the experimenting process!) will be done at home.
Check out the STEM website for a list of Ms. B’s approved apps and more photos!
Make Your Voice Heard
Students in grades 2-5 will all have completed our District’s Make Your Voice Heard survey by February 8. The survey gives students the opportunity to provide feedback on our school’s climate, student-staff relationships, rigor, and relevance.
Colorado Children's Book Award
All students at Fairmount have voted for their favorite Colorado Children’s Book Award (CCBA) picture book. At least 3 of these picture books have been read to your students, if not all. All students voted using a Google Form. Votes are sent to the state committee, which sponsors the event. We look forward to learning the winners! It has been fun to read all of these great books!
Spelling Bee
We are so proud of our courageous students who competed in Fairmount's annual spelling bee on January 25. They all worked very hard! Congratulations to the 20 students who qualified through a written test to participate: Aubrey Grieve, Colin Meier, Collin Portie, Carter Pearson, Caleb Coffing, Edward Sum, Ethan Hasenkampf, Greyson Donaldson, Hannah Dill, Jackson Bakanec, Luke Hamilton, Natalie Helmer, Kyle Brownell, Owen Earl, Owen Grimes, Sage Barbour, Blake Anderson, Sadie Weborg, Seb Pei, Tatum Irwin, Teagan Peters, and Tess Dreeszen.
Congratulations to our Spelling Bee Winners!
Our champion, Hannah Dill, 1st runner up, Caleb Coffing and 2nd runner up, Natalie Helmer will represent Fairmount at the Area Spelling Bee on Wednesday, February 6, at 4pm at Drake Middle School. We wish our students good luck on the next round!
Robotics Club Victories
Congratulations are also due to the Fairmount’s Robotics Club students! They competed in their 2nd competition at Kullerstrand Elementary on January 25. It was an exciting day! Out of the 36 students who competed, our Fairmount students did exceedingly well.
Congratulations to Ian Boeckman, Edward Sum, and Evan Warren of Team X-Valkyrie, who won the Excellence Award. This highest level of achievement is given to the team that exemplifies overall excellence in several other award areas including, design, building skills, conduct, and interviews.
Jackson Bakanec, Kyle Brownell, and Cole Trebilcock of ZAP team also placed in the finals with 4th place overall. They also won the Programming Award, which is given to the team that received the most points in communicating their strategies in tackling problems and displaying teamwork.
We are proud of all of our students who showed commitment and perseverance in the Robotics Club!
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