Cleveland Elementary kicked off a year of STEAM fun with the help of some special guests. Members of the Georgia Tech Research Institute brought an array of fun experiments to get the young Crocodiles excited about learning.

Because they have not been able to do STEAM on a large scale for a while due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Crocs wanted to bring it back with a bang. Enrichment teacher Erin Dalton reached out to a former Cleveland parent, Ryan Westafer, who is a chief scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute for help. He was able to coordinate equipment and other GTRI members to come work with the students.

Each grade level spent an hour participating in activities with the team of engineers. Students experienced the effects of air and pressure with a vacuum chamber. An infrared thermal imaging camera was used while they hypothesized and tested the affects of liquid nitrogen. They were also able to feel how friction can impact rotational inertia while spinning on a platform.

Dalton is confident the students will build on what they learned.

“I hope the students left our kickoff excited about STEAM and looking forward to participating in hands-on lessons and activities that will enrich what they are learning in their classrooms.”

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