STEM Makerspaces- Building with Magna Tiles

School:: Lavern Gaynor Elementary
Subject:: Stem
Teacher:: Tiffany Weeks
Students Impacted:: 300
Grade:: K-5
Date:: September 12, 2022

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

In memory of Harlan Dam - $55.00

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 300

Adding Magnablocks to the sets we already had made this an even more versatile makerspace.

It allowed students to build more flexible projects. They were able to create more complex projects. It was thrilling as an educator to watch students of different ages work collaboratively for a common goal.

I continued to use the tiles not only as a media center makerspace but also in our after school program. The kids love just being able to relax and create. We also brought them out during parent events. Many parents were thrilled to see a hand on easy activity that could be used as an alternative to playing with electronics.

grant photo

Original Grant Overview

Goal

The goal is to empower the students' pursuit of life-long learning and to inspire them to shape and reinvent their world through making, creating and iterating. The students will use their problem solving and critical thinking skills to independently or collaboratively build a variety of projects at multiple levels of difficulty. I want to make learning fun and get the students excited about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)!

What will be done with my students

Special areas, called Makerspaces, will be set up in the media center. These areas will house a variety of STEM projects. These spaces will allow students to independently or collaboratively create a variety of projects using the supplies and instructions purchased by this grant.
Young builders can reason with the shapes as they snap together 2D flat art configurations or assemble houses, castles and other 3D creations.
These spaces will be facilitated by the media specialist but will be designed so that students can mostly create and explore independently or with peers.

Benefits to my students

Learning by doing provides in-depth understanding of concepts with application for real-life scenarios.
Working in pairs or teams, facilitates interactive group problem-solving and teamwork, especially in conjunction with design thinking processes.
These fun projects will get students excited about learning and also build their STEM skills and knowledge.

Budget Narrative

This kit will be able to be reused over and over again to create a variety of projects.

Items

#	Item	Cost
1	100 piece Magna Tile Set	$55.00
	Total:	$55.00

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