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Mrs. Schoonover’s Kindergarten class at Coal City Community Unit School District 1 recently participated in a STEM activity designed around Thanksgiving. The project involved students using marshmallows and toothpicks to build cages intended to keep “Tater the turkey” and his friends from escaping before the holiday meal.
Students worked in pairs to plan their cage designs before constructing them. After building, each pair evaluated their work and drew a picture of what they would change for future attempts.
"Oh no! Tater the turkey and his friends do not want to be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner! We must build cages to make sure these tricky birds do not run away!" said Mrs. Schoonover. "In this fun STEM activity, Mrs. Schoonover’s Kindergarten class used marshmallows, toothpicks, and their imaginations to create cages to keep their turkeys trapped until Thanksgiving. The students planned their cages with a partner before bringing their designs to life. After building, each pair assessed their cage and drew a picture of what they would do differently next time."
"Let’s hope these traps work so we have turkey to eat at Thanksgiving dinner!"
Coal City Community Unit School District 1 serves Grundy and Will counties and includes several schools: Coal City Early Childhood Center, Coal City Elementary School, Coal City High School, Coal City Intermediate School, and Coal City Middle School (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The district employs 153 teachers with an average salary of $69,297; about 78 percent are women and 22 percent are men. There are no teachers in the district with more than ten absences per year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The student population is predominantly White at nearly 87 percent, with Hispanic students making up almost 10 percent (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In 2020, the district spent $21,619 per student for a total expenditure of over $47 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
