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Date: 10/5/2022
LONGMEADOW – Learning is always easier when it is done through creative, hands-on experiences. The STEAM programs at Glenbrook and Williams middle schools have taken that idea and run with it.
The latest experiment undertaken by sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade classes at both schools involved an imaginary “real-world” problem.
“There is a need to replace student chairs at Glenbrook Middle School, and due to ongoing issues with supply and demand, there is a shortage of chairs,” reads the problem given to students in Anne Marie Salvon’s STEAM classes at Glenbrook Middle School. The challenge students then undertook was to spend five days building a chair using five pounds of newspaper from The Reminder, seven meters of masking tape, imagination and engineering skills.
Salvon walked around the classroom, checking on the progress of four teams.
“We’re going to put one leg in the middle,” Ryan Brosnan reminded his teammate Mollie Harre. The two students are members of the Techies team for the project. The chairs could have between three and five legs and had to stand between 30 and 50 centimeters. Brosnan propped up a tube that had been made by rolling more than a dozen sheets of newspaper together. “Trees are strong, but the newspaper’s not,” he told Reminder Publishing.
Harre explained that the team had begun by researching which shapes are strongest shapes and how to keep structures from wobbling. The team then sketched out their ideas, built a prototype and improved on their designs.
“Now, we’re doing different parts. I’m working on the slideshow,” she said.
As Salvon reminded them to keep track of how much paper and tape they had used, The Artists learned first-hand about resource limitations.
“We ran out of tape, so I had to tie it,” Avery Searles said as she knotted a strip of newspaper around one leg of the group’s chair. Her teammate, Ada Moore, added, “We thought that seven meters of tape was more than enough, but we ran out.”
Over at the Engineers’s work area, Claire Gaffney explained that the team had added newspaper crossbars between the legs. “It keeps the legs from wobbling,” she said. Earlier in the week, the chair had fallen over, highlighting the need for increased structural stability.
The Scientists went in a different direction from their peers. Instead of a square seat, the group created a triangle chair with four legs supporting it. Ibrahim Razzaq said they were adding pieces to make the chair more attractive, including wrapping the bottom of the chair to hide the legs.
As the class wound down, the Techies disagreed about whether they were ready to present. “This is good conflict,” Salvon told her students and suggested they review the social contract to which each of them had agreed. In the end, they decided to work on their chair for one more day.
The Engineers did present their chair, however. After presenting a slideshow detailing the steps they followed, Gaffney carefully sat down and Salvon started the clock. After 30 seconds had elapsed, the chair was deemed a success. “It feels comfy,” Gaffney declared.
Salvon said the students are enjoying themselves and learning at the same time.
The Newspaper Chair Challenge is the third project on which the students have worked since the beginning of the year. After working out what the engineering design process requires, groups competed to see who could build the tallest free-standing tower using marshmallows and dry spaghetti. Throughout the year, the class will split up into different team combinations to get hands on, conduct experiments and even learn how to 3D print.
This is the first time they’ve had their laptops out in the class,” Salvon said, referring to the slideshow presentations students made. “I’m loving it.”