Bethel Park students have a STEAM-y Fall Festival
Rylee Gorman decorates a pumpkin during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival.
Hunter Slavonic decorates a pumpkin during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival.
A googly-eyed pumpkin waits for further decoration.
Adam Booth tastes an apple during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival.
Annamarie Ferraro works on a leaf art project during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival.
Annamarie Ferraro works on a leaf art project during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival.
Rylee Gorman works on a leaf art project during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival.
Apple tasting during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival
Apple tasting during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival
Apple tasting during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival
Marshmallow tower attempt during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival
Decorating pumpkins during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival
Decorating pumpkins during Washington Elementary School’s Fall Festival
And the winner: honeycrisp!
As apple taste testers, a majority of first-graders at Bethel Park’s Washington Elementary School preferred the sweet, crisp, relatively new variety to a couple of the fruit’s traditional mainstays, red delicious and McIntosh.
Plus by graphing the results of the taste tests, the students had an opportunity to apply mathematics skills in a fun and relaxed environment, all part of the annual Fall Festival organized by teachers Barbara Walsh and Marrla Ellison.
The long-standing event, which first-graders started enjoying a decade and a half ago, has the added component of teaching the five subject areas of STEAM: science, technology, engineering, arts and good ol’ math.
”This is something they’ll always remember,” Walsh said on Tuesday afternoon as the youngsters tried their hands at various educational activities. “The older kids saw me setting up and said, ‘That’s your Fall Festival!'”
And festive it was, with the students, for example, learning more about science by testing small objects for buoyancy in a container of water set on a cafeteria table.
“They’re making predictions about what things will do,” Walsh explained, “and getting surprised about what floats and what doesn’t.”
Perhaps not so surprising was the result of attempts to engineer a marshmallow tower, as unseasonably warm weather tended to turn the confections into sticky goo.
Less messy – well, perhaps the Elmer’s glue got on a few things it shouldn’t – was an art project in which the students used leaves that had fallen from trees. And October’s favorite vegetable got plenty of action, as the children measured mini-pumpkins and then wrapped up the proceedings by decorating the seasonal squash’ larger counterparts.
“They’re recording their observations in their books, and they’ll be able to take it home as a memory,” Walsh said.
Helping her supervise were a sufficient number of volunteer parents, including Christy Odham, whose son Trenton is in first grade.
“I like being a part of their day,” she said. “They’re gone all day, and I miss being with them. I enjoy being able to come in, and the school is very welcoming to us. And they’re just growing up.”
Another of her sons, third-grader Hendrix – gotta love the name! – participated in the Fall Festival two years ago.
“I think this very important, having group work with other people,” she said about the event’s format. “That’s very important for children.”
Of course, Odham tried the apples, too. And of course, she agreed with the kids about the honeycrisp.
“However,” she said, “a combination of all three apples with a little brown sugar might be the best.”