Each fall, STEM volunteers lead Brackett students in creating their own water bottle rockets at Robbins Farm Park.  Students get excited to see their creations launch into space and safely return down.

This year, the water bottle rocket activity will be help in conjunction with Fall Fest on September 28, 2024.  

Click here for more information on how to make your rocket!

Math Morning is an extracurricular math program intended to inspire and energize students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades about interesting math topics. Each session typically includes a brief slide presentation on the topic, followed by worksheets with fun exercises. This material has been already prepared a few years ago by parents at a Lexington Elementary school; however, parents are more than welcome to customize it. Each session takes place every Friday morning before school and lasts 30-40 minutes. Parents are invited and encouraged to stay and assist their child with the worksheets, and are very welcome to join the teams.

The goal is to inspire, have fun, and to introduce the kids to concepts (Roman numerals!  Binary numbers!) that aren’t in the usual school math curriculum. (And a corollary to this is that we don’t treat it as supplementing what they learn in class, but rather as a way to have fun with math.)

The program is every Friday from 7:20 a.m.-7:50 a.m.

The location is different for each grade:

3rd Graders: Library
4th Graders: Room 312 (Ms. Varallo’s Room)
5th Graders: Room 201 (Ms. Gorman’s Room)

Volunteer Opportunities:

Help lead Math Morning!  A team of 4 or 5 parent/caregiver volunteers per grade rotate in leading the lesson each week.

Commitment Time: about 1 hour/week rotated between volunteers (10-20 minutes to prepare the lesson ahead of time and print worksheets + 30-40 minutes in the classroom before school on Fridays.

Enjoy an evening of hands-on mathematical exploration during Brackett Family Math Night.  Families of students explore dozens of age-appropriate diverse math- and logic-based puzzles and games; participants work in small groups to solve logic “mysteries” and more.

This year’s Math Nights are on:

Kindergarten and 1st grade: Monday, October 28, 2024
2nd and 3rd grades: Monday, January 13, 2025

Come look at the stars and planets with Brackett parent astronomers!  We will have a telescope set up in Robbins Farm Park and lead students and families in viewing the beauty of the night sky.

During Chemistry Week, STEM Committee parent/caregiver volunteers host four days of activities that take place directly after school.  The activities align with the theme of National Chemistry Week and takes place on the third week in October.

Last year, we explored the theme “The Healing Power of Chemistry,” and included activities such as measuring pH levels and how to remedy stomach aches after eating too much acidic food.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Lead a Activity After School:  Volunteers help run a STEM-related activity table after school during Chemistry week.  There is a different activity each day Monday-Thursday outside the front of the school at 2:30 dismissal.  Volunteers need only commit to one day (but can do multiple days, if desired).  The STEM Committee will help plan each day’s activities.

Commitment Time: about 1 hour beginning at 2:15 p.m.  If you have more time to contribute for planning or have ideas for activities for this year’s theme, “Picture Perfect Chemistry,” let us know at stem@brackettpto.org.

This year’s Chemistry Week will be October 21-25, 2024.  We will be exploring photography and imaging with the theme “Picture Perfect Chemistry.”

Hour of Code is a national education initiative – the goal is to give millions of students from across the U.S. their first taste of computer programming.

STEM parent/caregiver volunteers bring Hour of Code into Brackett classrooms each year by introducing our students to computer programming fundamentals through a series of coding games on their classroom iPads or Chromebooks (kindergartners participate via a deviceless hands-on game).

Hour of Code helps prepare Brackett students to handle technology classes at Gibbs/Ottoson and beyond, and hopefully introduces programming to a few students who wouldn’t have tried it otherwise.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Lead an Hour of Code session in your child’s classroom!  Volunteers are given a lesson plan and instructions for a 40-minute in-class online coding game.

Commitment Time: about 1 hour (10-15 minutes to review the materials ahead of time + 45-50 minutes in the classroom during school hours)

This year’s Hour of Code will be held the week of February 3-7, 2025.

Have questions about Hour of Code at Brackett?  Contact Tammy Kalt at tkalt@brackettpto.org.

An evening event held at Brackett, where STEM takes over the school. Volunteer parents/caregivers set up tables for a wide variety of fun STEM activities that the students can enjoy.

Last year, STEM Night had over 350 participants and volunteers hosted 17 activity tables, including:

• Touch-a-Brain
• Dry Ice Fun
• Sound: The Chladni Plate
• Straw Rockets
• Make Your Own LED Magnets
• Big Dice Bingo
• 3D Printing
• Math Games

Volunteer Opportunities:

Lead a Activity Table at STEM Night!  Volunteers help run a STEM-related activity table during STEM Night.  This is your chance to share your favorite quick and easy science activity with the school!  Don’t have an idea for a table, but want to join in the fun?  No worries!  The STEM Committee has plenty of ideas and can supply the materials needed for your table — you just bring the fun by helping students explore the project/game at your station.  No science background needed!

Commitment Time: as little as 3 hours (30 minutes to review the project beforehand, 2.5 hours setting up and staffing your table during STEM Night).  If you have more time to contribute, consider joining the STEM Night planning team which meets virtually in the weeks leading up to STEM Night.

This year’s STEM Night will take place on Friday, March 21, 2025.

The Science Fair is in coordination with the 4th and 5th grade teachers.

Students are introduced to experimental design and are encouraged to come up with ideas for their own experiments.  Each student (or small group) designs and runs their experiment at home; the STEM Committee provides a tri-fold display to each student (or group) to create a display detailing their experiment and results.  Students will display their work in the Brackett gymnasium during the science fair which occurs in March in conjunction with the Brackett STEM Night.  There will be a 4th and 5th grade families only Science Fair Preview Night the evening before STEM Night.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Introducing the Science Fair to Students:  Volunteers teach students the basics of how to conduct a successful experiment and then run a sample experiment in the classroom.
Commitment Time: about 1 hour (10-15 minutes to review the materials ahead of time + 35-40 minutes in the classroom during school hours).

Poster Set up: Volunteers help hang tri-fold displays on the gymnasium walls before the Science Fair Preview Night.
Commitment Time: about 1 hour in late-afternoon or evening before Science Fair Preview Night.

This year’s Science Fair Preview Night and STEM Night will be held March 20 and 21, 2025.

With help from parent/caregiver volunteers, first graders incubate and raise baby chicks in the classroom.  This activity sparks excitement among students and adults alike as they learn about the incubation process and candling.

Chick hatching aligns perfectly with the Birds module in the first grade EL curriculum, adding even more enthusiasm.

Volunteer Opportunities:

Organize the First Grade Chick Hatching:  Volunteer organizes and coordinates the first grade chick hatching activity including sourcing the eggs, setting up and monitoring incubators, organizing parent/caregiver volunteers to assist checking incubators daily and run candling demonstrations in class, and homing the chicks afterwards.  The STEM Committee has contact information for the farm we have used in previous years to source/home the chicks and instructions/guidelines on how to run the activity.
Commitment Time: several hours throughout April to early-May.

Assist in Monitoring Incubators: Several volunteers work with the Chick Hatching Organizer to monitor incubators before school.  Volunteers and organizer will work out a schedule based on availability to cover every morning during the experiment (excluding weekends).  Volunteers check incubator temperature and refill its water.
Commitment Time: 15 minutes in the morning directly before school starts.

Candle Eggs in the Classroom: Volunteers teach students about embryo development by candling eggs in the classroom.
Commitment Time: about 45 minutes (10-15 minutes to review process beforehand and 30 minutes in the classroom during school hours)

This year’s Chick Hatching will begin in first-grade classrooms on April 28, 2025.