A Week of Reflection on STEM 310

By: Grace T. Petinglay

This is my first STEM class, so I dont exactly know what to expect. I did wonder
if I made the right decision to enroll in this program instead of going for the MS in
Biology, which is online. I wonder if this will be the right kind of Science for me, that I
would need to be an effective teacher to my students with learning needs.

Monday

Here goes Monday, after introductions, the first activity was the Balloon Towers. I
said to myself, wow so this is STEM, I am now exercising my diaphragm. What does this
mean?
Do I hold my breath and store as much air to hold on for more surprises? I dont
remember blowing balloons for a long time, now that my girls are in college. Theres
quite a few of those balloons, do we need to blow all of that? I was lost in my thought
while I looked like a caricature in the North wind trying to blow off the mans cloak, when
the professor said engineers will work with one hand. What? Blowing all the air I could
squeeze off my lungs is hard enough, now I will be physically disabled by one hand?
Now, twisting and sealing those balloons with one hand was a real challenge. Carolyn
came over and helped me, but we didnt make it on the first try. Then Debbie helped,
also. That slowed down our balloon production. We never thought of taping the balloon
rather than twisting it. The professor said we couldnt talk! Now, we have physical and
speech impediments. The students in my program dont really have physical disabilities,
except if they got in an accident, though a number of them have speech issues, but at
least they are verbal. Now, I can imagine how is it like to have a physical disability and a
verbal impediment at the same time!
As a group we didnt see that verbal impediment coming, so we havent
discussed how our structure should be built,
except that we should have 3 balloons as a
base and that we would just build on it to as
high as we could. Result is a leaning tower.
We didnt even take into consideration the
sizes of our balloons and how we were going
to tape it in a way that balances our
structure. It got me thinking, so is this
STEM? Where does the expected teaching
strategy of my school site of,I do, we do and
you do, comes in? Hmm, my interest is
picking up!

The questions of what is STEM and who is

STEM for, were given. One of the answers that got
me was: real world, group based and at your own
pace. Real world, yes, group based, definitely, but at
your own pace? Will this work in school? We have
deadlines and progress reports and required
standards to cover. For who is STEM for, The
answer is for all ages, for people with previous
negative experiences with Math and/or Science. This
is inspiring for me, for it looks like a light at the end of
a dark tunnel for most of my type of students.

The best part of the day was when we dabbled on flying toys.
Mechanical Boat
 We cant make it fly in circles, it
just flaps in place.
Zing Sky Gliders
We all loved this toy that one of us
looked this up on Amazon. We will
definitely buy this. We enjoyed
how it whistles as it zings.
Parachute
It reminded me of jelly fishes
floating in Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Hot Air
One of us has to hold the frame so the lantern could stay up while
one holds the blow dryer
Helicopter
My first and second try was okay, but the rest were not. These
toys looked easy to fly, but it was a different thing to actually make
it fly. It made sense why STEM was for all ages. Kids can bring
their own set of strengths to it.

I was wondering if this is possible or is this even real. That would take tons of strength to
fly those huge wings, much more launch its weight into the air.
 Tuesday

Started the day with a very inspiring video about that lady engineer. Skill to build
anything you dream about in your head. She was so right, my picture of an engineer
does not jive with someone looking like a model for designer clothes! Now Im starting to
congratulate myself for choosing to be in this program!

We were given a package of styro plane parts that we needed to assemble. Click
on a link for instruction and what, it was in a foreign language! My seatmate said to click
on need support for pictures, but looking at the parts of the plane, it wasnt really that
hard to put it together. Im reminded of my EL students, pairing them with native
speakers or another EL student that has become proficient would really help.

Flying our planes outside was a real treat! I wonder why my plane is flying in a
loop or doing somersaults in the air before gliding down. My thoughts are wow, my
plane is such an expert in flying. What i know, only expert pilots can do those
exhibitions up in the air.

Then the vocabularies on the basics of flight: the lift,

thrust, weight, and drag. So why is my pilotless plane
somersaulting in the air? Is it the weight, or the drag that is not in
balance with the lift? Or is it the wind direction impacting the
thrust? Now Im beginning to understand the rationale behind,
learning by reflecting on the process and not just on the end
results.

We have two major things to look forward to tomorrow.

One is our project on how to fly a wooden dude, and the other is
the fieldtrip.
We were to design anything (we were not limited) that will
launch our wooden man up in the air for at least 3 seconds and
land in one whole piece. My partner, who dislikes sitting down and plan our design,
dragged me out of the room saying, Come, lets see how well make this fly! We
grabbed a roll of tape and our styro planes. We figured if we tape our little man (who had
half his head off) to the plane that will work. So we did. The first try, our little man landed
in pieces. All dismembered! No wonder it has a half head, its neck joint had pre-existing
conditions! This time, we were given a little man with a whole head, but we thought this
one is kind of heavier than the first one. I thought of weighing it and it weighs 148.3 g.
Now we decided to tape the wings only, but how do we sustain the flight? So we thought
of taping paper from the Chinese lantern to the wings so it would gather air to sustain the
lift and counteract the weight, which is the pull of gravity on the mass of our little man.
Thats when we thought of helium balloons. It surely will sustain the flight.
 Wednesday

The night before, I was at a 99 cents store buying those helium

balloons. We thought one balloon will make it, but attaching a 48
gram item wouldnt even lift it off the floor for an inch. So I ended
up buying 4 more balloons. I saw a Frisbee toy for pets, so I got
that too. Night time, I was out in the front yard, testing the possible
flights for our little man. I forgot to take him home, so i just attached
the helium balloons to the plane and imagined him chilling with
those balloons up on air. Launched it, but those strings of balloons
were dragging it down, and it was just too difficult to launch it. So, I
wound the strings and taped it close to the fuselage. Tried it again,
but not much of a help. I went up to the balcony, thinking that if i
dropped it from a certain height, it would at least generate LIft to
sustain flight, but still, it wasnt working. I need something to add
force to our thrust so it would launch our little man and give time to
the balloon to sustain its flight. I remembered the zing glide toy.
That slingshot thing would be perfect to launch our little man.
Then, it was time for our field trip. This is the first class that I
can remember where I dont catch myself checking the on the time
unless the professor says that it was time for lunch!

The field trip! It was the best that I could ever remember. I remember the feeling
of awe as we were walking into that helicopter. I was videotaping and was walking in and
a classmate turned around and said, This is so cool! It was even an understatement.
No wonder we were so quiet! Back to the lab after our lunch, now Im panicking. How are
we going to launch this little man and have him in the air for at least 3 seconds? My
partner said, Oh, dont worry, shes not even going to watch it. Well just fly it outside by
ourselves, come back, and talk about it. So I countered, I dont think so, theres a rubric
for the grade, we need to fly it for 3 seconds, and have it
land in one whole piece. She confirmed it with the
professor and came back to tell me that I was right.
Now watching our peers flying their contraptions
under the blistering heat of the sun, just made me all
nervous. It seems that they were all good, especially what
Claudia and Carolyn did. They did an awesome job!
I remember telling my partner that we check online
for ideas, but she said that would be cheating and I said,
No, thats research. Our launch was a fail, but for some
reason, I felt relieved that we went through the process of
designing it. I was all for sitting down and planning all the
details before we do trial flights. My partner was more spontaneous, on the go, biting off
the tape instead of cutting it. Were opposite forces. Shes the thrust, Im the drag that
she said, and Well make a good marriage!
 Thursday

Technology.

I always thought that this word referred to computers and digital devices, thats
why my apprehension in enrolling in this program was I
dont have those strengths that deal with computer
programs. The only technology strength I would consider is
setting up microscopes and preparing its slides. It was a
relief to know and understand what technology is all about.

Then we were given Gears realia that we have to

align to Science, Math and Technology. Our tool was the
eggbeater and a coincidence that we also get to build an
eggbeater using a KNEX building kit. It was my first time to
use this kit to build something that will be about gears. I
remember having this kit in building nucleotides, but I
needed gears for that. I used to equate gears with the dirty
chains of the bicycle my young cousin used to work on, who is now a communications
engineer. I don't think I can do what he is doing. Now, who knew that working with gear
can be a lot of fun! It was awesome watching the different display windows. There is so
much creativity in our class.
 Now the question that aligns to Math, Science and Technology.
We got the Science. I didnt know that our group can have so much
discussion on the push and pull forces. I never thought that I would be
studying intently the direction of those tiny teeth of the eggbeaters
gears just to prove the point that push and pull are directional forces.

It is amazing to see the buildup of the succession of the lessons,

that it was fun and I lost track of time.

Friday

Wow, I cant believe this the end of this class. I had so much fun, that I was not
prepared to be frustrated with the days project!

We are going to scale draw a Bicycle! To think that I just remembered my little
cousin, decades ago, bent on working on his
dismatled bike, with his every waking time. Well, at
least I thought we will draw it and will not make our
nails messy with grease. The only thing is, we will
have to draw this on our own and not as a group!

I measured the big bike, thinking that this is

better than the small bikes because I could be more
accurate with my measurements. I had all my
measurements that I needed, but how do I use these
actual measurements and draw the bike on paper? I
stared at my computations and at the blank drawing paper. LORD, give me wisdom,
what do I do with this? His answer, make a grid. My paper measures 24 by 18 inches. I
will make squares by 3 inches each! Now, how do I compress the actual
 measurements? I thought of dividing by 3 and by 2 from the center,
but it was still too big for my paper so I changed the divisor to 4. I
asked a friend, if that would make sense and she said, yes because
of my grids (having 4 corners). She asked me what my idea of using
the grid is. I said, I remembered my Art teacher, grids can help in
centering a drawing and work on the rest of the parts using
measurements. Yes, Accuracy and Precision, I got that down, but
how do I blend that with artistic creativity/ the usual comments of my
students come to mind, Is this Math or Art?. Now I understand their
confusion.

Final Thoughts

On the, Backward Bike, this line struck me, Knowledge is not equal to
Understanding.
This made me understand that the process of designing or constructing a design, though
how frustrating it could be, is as much valuable as the end results.
 The process created new neural pathways or strengthens previous ones. I will
remember this class as like having Peter Pan syndrome---having so much fun playing
like a little kid and losing track of time! :)