Liberty students enjoy adventure with STEM

Liberty School students recently discovered that science, technology, engineering and math can be fun, physical and even tasty during an activity-filled Adventure Day.

Each year, the elementary school focuses on an educational theme that runs throughout the year, and students enjoy range of activities designed to illustrate how that chosen theme applies in their lives.

Adventure Day, where students rotate through several specially designed “stations” throughout the day, is one of the highlights of the focused study.

This year’s theme was STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), and students had a great time learning how STEM could help them build stick bridges, float paper airplanes, twirl hoops and even make ice cream.

In addition to their year-long students and Adventure Day, students attended an Xtreme Science Assembly; had a visit from the Jump Rope Warrior who explained the science behind his extreme jump roping studnets, including jumping on his backside; and enjoyed Moffet’s Draw Along classroom assemblies. They will cap it off with an all-school field trip to the Lawrence Hall of Science this Friday.

One of the special things about Adventure Day is that the students are broken into groups that included students of different grade levels, with the older students able to coach and help their young classmates.

“It gives the students an opportunity to apply the knowledge they have been gaining all year,” said Liberty Principal Chris Rafanelli. “It helps them apply what they have been learning outside the text book.”

The students enjoyed all the stations, but a favorite was the ice cream station, where parent volunteers helped them make and freeze their own ice cream, learning about portions of ingredients and how ice cream freezes. The best part was that they got to eat their own creations.

In another adventure, students from the Petaluma High School Wildlife Museum showed a variety of birds and small animals, explaining about different species.

Two other Petaluma High students brought along an air-blowing chamber and challenged students to make vehicles that could sustain flight.

Another popular stop was in the classroom, where they created structures out of paper cups, testing them for strength and stability.

One of the most challenging tasks for the students was designing and creating structurally safe bridges using sticks and gum balls.

From station to station, the entire student body rotated, experiencing real-world challenges in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, but, perhaps most importantly, once again understanding that learning can be fun.