by Kelly Kramer
The Kindergarteners at Lester Prairie Elementary had a special opportunity recently. Two engineers from 3M in Hutchinson came into both classrooms and presented a STEM experience on Toys in Space. Engineers Tim Welsch and Tony Wehsler spent time discussing with the kindergarteners the job of an engineer. They used the example of Toys in Space to show how engineers have to plan for how things will work differently in space due to the absence of gravity.
In the experiment, the kindergarteners were able to have hands on experiences with different toys that were also brought up into space. The toys included a spring frog, basketball hop, racecar track, gravitron, magnetic marbles, and several others. After playing with and experimenting with the toys, the children then made predictions as to how the toys would work differently in space without gravity. They then watched actual video footage of astronauts using the same toys in space and were able to observe the differences.
The kindergarteners enjoyed having the experience of interacting with the toys and learning from the engineers. It was another example of how science, technology, engineering, and math are present in our everyday lives.
Emerson Zabel and Madelene Ancira working with Engineer Tim Welsch and the spring frog.
Brenno Raiche and Mackenzie Dammann using the gravitron.
Tim Welsch and Tony Wehlser demonstrate the racecar track to Mrs. Kramer’s kindergarten class. Students pictured include Annabelle Ehalt, Amelia Johnson, Carson Janisch, Grady Meyer, Madelene Ancira, and Allie Rehmann
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