Watson students show off Endless Possibilities

Did you know that you can use a potato as a computer touchpad? Or that you can play golf on a table? The students at Floyd B. Watson Elementary School answered those questions and much more during An Evening of Endless Possibilities on Oct. 26.

Students in all grades performed feats of engineering, robotics, electronics and problem solving that night and almost every classroom hosted an enriching and challenging activity.

The event, in its fifth year, was made possible through a grant written to the Rockville Centre Education Foundation that funded the school’s year-long endeavor to expand students’ understanding of the principles of a STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math).

Patricia Montemarano, a teacher of strategies for English language learners and reading (STELLAR), was one of the event’s organizers.

“The ongoing Endless Possibilities initiative at Watson has proven to be a great success,” said Montemarano. “Students are employing the 21 st-century skills of creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.”

Montemarano said preparing the projects was just as enjoyable for the students as the event itself.

“Students stopped me in the hall to ask, ‘Are we are coming to STELLAR today to work on the arcade?’ {or} ‘Will be programming the robots this afternoon?’” she said. “That kind of enthusiasm comes from students being vested in the learning process and the STEAM skills offered via Endless Possibilities have proven to be an excellent vehicle for student engagement.”

The Watson gymnasium was transformed into a giant arcade as students in all grades created interactive games using cardboard boxes, recycled materials, and, most importantly, their imaginations.

“The Evening of Endless Possibilities was so much fun!” exclaimed fourth grader Evangeline Groshans. “My friend and I made a soccer game for the arcade and it was great being able to run it. I loved testing the marble runs and I even programmed a Mio robot.”

The students running the arcade games functioned as “staff members” and wore Watson School t-shirts. The guests got to play on the claw machines, bowling alleys, pinball machines, ball tosses, and two golf games.

The fifth graders spent the first two months of school designing and building marble runs, complete with tracks, spins and loops. Shouts of excitement could be heard each time the marble made it to the end.

“I love engineering and working on the marble runs,” said fifth-grader Paul Marquardt. “It made me feel more advanced in my engineering skills.”

Marquardt especially enjoyed creating special drawing robots.

“The scribbler robots were so cool,” he said. “We figured out how to program an actual robot to draw shapes.”

One of the more unusual sights was a potato performing as a keyboard using the MaKey MaKey wiring system. Makey Makey is an electronic invention tool that connects any object to the computer via a USB hookup. In this case, a plug was stuck inside the potato so that the spud could be used as a touchpad to control the keyboard. It was open for any student in grades 3-5 to try out.

The younger kids showed off their creations with Legos, PowerClix, straws and connectors, magnietic blocks, circuits, Little Bits, and TooBaLinks. The kindergarten and first and second-grade students also had an egg drop.

Watson principal Joan Waldman was impressed by all of the exhibits and proud of the students for their hard work.

“Watson’s Evening of Endless Possibilities was a phenomenal experience for the students,” she said. “There were ample opportunities for children to experience hands-on learning while having fun. The events of this night will lay the foundation for the future acquisition of scientific knowledge by Watson students.”