STEM (數理科技) 絕對是近年兒童教育的最熱門課題之一，剛剛在 San Pedro 舉行的第一屆 STEAM Carnival 吸引了上萬個家庭參加，更獲得 IBM、Intel、GE 等大型科技公司的落力支持，現在就跟隨兩位小記者 Aaron 和 QQ 的腳步，一起看看這個將遊戲和嘉年華的娛樂風格融入數理科技學習的精彩活動，到底有多好玩！！
A Journey of Wonder at the STEAM Carnival
Aaron Estrada (8)
Lajajakids Junior Journalist
I had an awesome day at the STEAM carnival. I went to the laser maze, bean bag toss and interviewed very interesting people. We started with interviewing one of the mentors named Ms. Todd. She said she liked math since she was little. So she studied to be an engineer. It was nice to learn that they use new technology that is built on well tested technology from IBM. Thank you for the interview Ms. Todd.
We then interviewed the co-organizer of the STEAM carnival. His name is Eric Gradman. He was a cool, nice and happy man excited to talk with us. I really liked him, because he was so friendly. He asked us if we liked the event and we said, "yes". Mr. Gradman said he will plan more STEAM carnival events for us kids each year since we like it. His goal in 5 years is to have STEAM Carnival in 50 cities all over the world. He said it takes a big team to work together and problem solve to make the event work smoothly. His team must be very big and cool like him.
I also interviewed another Eric Gever who is a mentor for a group of students from Marina High School in Huntington Beach. He is an engineer who mentors high school students. They use many types of technology to create robots to compete in competition each year. Some of the technologies are micro controllers, speed controllers, and computer aided design programs. I saw a really cool robot that they built that catches and throws a big ball. It only took them six weeks to build from scratch. I would like to be on his team to build these really awesome robots. I think I would like to build one that floats in the air during an earthquake.
I saw many cool projects that used Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. I saw a science experiment with baking soda and my day was already going great!!! There were so many exhibits at the STEAM carnival. We can spend a week here. They had people doing acrobatics, demonstrating science experiments, robots, music, entertainment, and materials for us to use to create our own inventions. Then I ate ice cream from the food trucks and went to the laser maze. After we went to the bean bag piano, we went to play some basketball games made from cardboard boxes. They had lots of big cardboard boxes and QQ and I pretended we were playing in a big Minecraft maze that was taller than us. It gave me some ideas to make some games on my own. At the end, I went to the VIP lounge to rest and play with QQ. On our way out, we saw a man in a fire proof "space suit". He was standing in a see through fire chamber. We saw the flames burst all over him over and over again. But he was still alive. It was like a magic show and a circus combined. My mom told me that it was Eric Gradman, the event organizer who was man we interviewed in the fire. My mom said he used to also be a circus performer and also an engineer. That is a cool very engineer. I hope to see him again.
I learned that science, technology, engineering, art and math can be a great team. It is very interesting and important with all the things that it can make and do. Now I would like to create my own robots, cars, space tower, rooms, and things.
I had great day with my friend Jaslyne at the STEAM Carnival. We were junior journalists, explorers, inventors, artists, scientists, and mathematicians, and engineers all in same day. Thank you to all the organizers, mentors, and supporters of the STEAM Carnival. Thank you also to Lajajakids.com for the great and rewarding experience. I had a blast and a magical day at the STEAM Carnival!
A Day at the STEAM Carnival
Jaslyne QQ (8)
Lajajakids Junior Journalist
I really liked the day I had at the STEAM Carnival,on October 25th at the port of LA in san pedro. The most fun games I went to were the Laser Maze, the Magic Mirror, and the rocking horse race. We first went over our questions outside. Then interviewing started. We started looking for a mentor. I was looking at a giant keyboard and my mom saw a lady and asked me to interview her. One of questions were,"What inspired you to become a scientist of engineer?, she answerted"I really liked arthemetic when I was little." Next we interviewed a organizer. His name was Eric Gradman. he was a cool and funny man to interview. A question I asked him was "How was STEAM carnival created?" He replyed, "I really liked robots. I also loved art. Me and my friend, Brent decided that we wanted to share this with the public. That's how it was created.".
I also Interviewed Ms. Bing from rolling robots. She is a nice lady to talk to. They had a cool robots that kid's were controlling in a place nearby. I asked her 3 questions. One of them were,"How do you think Rolling Robots is benefiting L.A?" She answered, "We have 3 locations, one in Palos Verdes, one in west L.A., and one in Glendale. All the kids who live around there get to go build a robot. About 100 kids come through the door of the 3 locations every day." I want to take classes at rolling robots one day.
There were a lot of cool games at the carnival. I could have spent all week there!There was a cool fashion show. All the clothes were related to STEAM. I went to a laser maze and dared Aaron to run through it. After that, we went to a beanbag piano and Aaron went to a basketball with moving targets .After all that, we needed a rest. We went to check out the VIP room, and found out it was a lounge! We rested, at peanut butter cookies, drank vitamin water, and played on Aaron's ipad. Aaron went out to the laser maze when I went to the bathroom. We both got back, and decided to spend the last 10 minutes the best we could. We played+played+played until we had to go.As we left,we saw a fire burst out! WHOOSH! It was warm outdoors because of this.There was a man inside of the thing, and he was still alive! The way the fire burst out was by people shooting balls to hit a bulls-eye to send flames up. If you coudn't throw it, you could go up and push it!
We finnally left and went back to our cars. I was sad not to see Aaron any more and to not be able to do the laser maze, but also happy I saw Aaron and went to the STEAM carnival.
