Venture Academy- Virtual STEAM Workshops- Elementary (grades K-8)
Grade K: Art-rora Borealis
In this classroom workshop students will create mini art pieces to represent the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights. Students will be introduced to a few of the legends and stories explaining the importance of the northern lights to indigenous people before being introduced to the science of why this natural phenomenon exists. Connections will be made to the career paths of electrical engineering and optics in engineering physics.
Grade 1: Brilliant Barometers
In this classroom workshop students will create working mini barometers, air pressure detectors, which can act as a tool in predicting precipitation. This project will connect to the indigenous ways of knowing in two-eyed seeing as well as the indigenous peoples strong historical understanding of weather patterns. Students will learn about the different cultural understandings of weather formation as well as the western science behind weather phenomenon. Connections will also be made to weather monitoring technology, introducing students to engineering principles and phenomena
Grade 2: Interesting Inuksuk
In this classroom workshop students will create online 3-D models of inuksuit. This project will connect to the indigenous ways of knowing in two-eyed seeing as well as the indigenous practice of using inuksuit to mark important places. Students will learn about the different types of inuksuit and what each form represents as well as an introduction to structural design and civil engineering. The project will involve using Tinker Cad's 3D modeling function to build an inukshuk of their choosing. Then students will be given the opportunity to go home and collect some rocks to be able to construct their own real-life inukshuk.
Grade 3: Coding Cleanup
In this classroom workshop, students will learn about the importance of keeping oceans clean through an introductory coding activity. They will use scratch coding basics to create their own ocean clean up game and have a chance to add personalized modifications as well. Students will also learn about the importance of two-eyed seeing and how it relates to the project itself.
Grade 4: Glowing Greenlands
In this classroom workshop, students will learn about the importance of keeping forests clean. They will use scratch coding basics to create their own forest clean up game and have a chance to add personalized modifications as well. Students will also learn about the importance of two-eyed seeing and how it relates to the project itself.
Grade 5: Making Waves
In this classroom workshop, students will learn how to create a basic proximity circuit which uses an ultrasonic distance sensor to turn a lightbulb ON and OFF. As a result, the activity introduces students to the power of electronic circuits and their components. This project will connect to the indigenous ways of knowing that synchronous nature of all components leads to a much larger effect.
Grade 6: Arduino Concert Grand
In this classroom workshop students will learn how to create a simple piano which uses a series of buttons to control and play a unique tone into the buzzer. As a result, the activity introduces students to the power of electronic circuits, buttons, buzzers and breadboards. Connections to indigenous ways of knowing and the importance of music in indigenous cultures will be explored as well.
Grade 7: Kelvin Melvin
In this classroom workshop students will learn how to create a temperature sensor circuit which utilizes a LCD screen to display the temperature reading to the user. As a result, the activity introduces students to the power of electronic circuits, LCD screen, temperature detection and potentiometers. Connections will also be made to the science behind weather patterns as well as the strong historical understanding of weather patterns in Indigenous communities.
Grade 8: Lacrosse the Sky!
In this classroom workshop students will learn about game development within Python by creating their own interactive game. Using a popular library called pygame, students will learn how to program interactive game objects and utilize them to create a lacrosse-themed arcade game. As a result, the activity introduces students to coding fundamentals while making connections to indigenous ways of knowing.
Once registered you will receive an automated email with the link to the module