Math Maniacs STEM Saturday

The Corinth School District held another successful STEM Saturday on September 16, with over 130 students registered for the Math Maniacs event. This series of Saturday camps helps students discover how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) connects to the world around us through fun, hands-on experiments and experiences.

Pre-K students worked to create patterns and identify how shapes can combine to form new shapes. Students in kindergarten learned about graphing using “M&M Math,” while also practicing counting and basic addition and subtraction skills using concrete manipulatives. Melanie Mills, Corinth Elementary teacher and co-leader of the STEM Saturday kindergarten group stated, “I love STEM Saturdays because we always have fun. It gives us opportunities to create unique, meaningful, and engaging lessons that we don’t get to plan in our day-to-day lessons. I enjoy seeing the excitement of the kids as they get hands on learning experiences.”

Students in first grade created geometric shapes using perler beads and discovered how heat transfer can melt objects.  Students also used marshmallows and pretzel sticks to create and compare 3D geometric structures. 

Second grade students build a Rubik’s cube and worked to solve the challenging puzzle, discussing strategies and potential ways to solve it. Students in the second and third grade were also challenged to build the tallest and sturdiest structure using cups and various items to weigh the structures down.  

Third grade students used craft supplies to create a monarch butterfly containing math facts. Students in the fourth grade had a “glow in the dark” math contest, racing to win various math challenges. Fifth and sixth grade students participated in the “Numbers Games,” competing across several fun math stations. These games worked to improve students’ math proficiency, retention, and motivation to engage with math. 

Approximately fifteen members of the Alcorn Civil Air Patrol assisted STEM Saturday participants with completing a paper airplane challenge. Mia Nickels, Deputy Commander for Cadets and Recruiting Officer for the Civil Air Patrol explained, “The Alcorn County Civil Air Patrol cadets took turns teaching the student groups about the four forces acting on an airplane in flight: lift, gravity, thrust, and drag. The students were all given a ‘pilot's license’ and assigned to flight instructors who helped them create their paper airplanes, while explaining the parts of a plane. Once the planes were folded, the cadets organized flight races where they encouraged experimenting with control and angles to improve the performance of the paper airplanes. The students seem to really enjoy racing their planes and learning about the CAP cadet program. Many were surprised to learn that the cadets teaching them were between the ages of 12-16. Our cadets enjoyed learning about the student's career goals, seeing the joy on their faces when their planes took flight, and sharing their personal experiences in the air, as many of them had flown their first Orientation flights that same week.”

All STEM Saturday students participated in a robotics center, using iPad apps to create pathways and navigating the Dash and Dot robots around obstacles towards a set location based on solving math challenges. All students also participated in math-based STEM Makerspace activities. Students in grades Pre-K through second grade created tessellations using paper and other craft items. Students in third through sixth grades created their own functioning “model clocks.” 

Join us for our next “Spooktacular STEM” Saturday on October 21, featuring Halloween and fall-themed activities. 

The camps are open only to Corinth School District students in grades preK-6. Parents must pre-register their child on the Corinth School District website (www.corinth.k12.ms.us).