Circus of Cause & Effect: Science in the Spotlight

The STEM Program at ODA is thrilled to celebrate our Circus City heritage by expanding our partnership with The Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC). The CAC and Upper School collaboration has been a highlight of student experiences for many years and Upper School students have traditionally volunteered and performed at both winter and spring circus performances. This year, in an effort to provide another common thread within the holistic ODA STEM experience, fourth grade STEM students will investigate the intersection of the Arts and STEM by working with Circus Arts educators and performers. ODA fourth graders will spend the next several weeks investigating simple machines and the applications of forces in a contraption-based circus performance, including engineering their own circus contraptions!

The Marvelous, Miraculous, Circus Machine activities are a great connection both to our fourth grade NGSS physical science standards on the energy of motion, as well as our local community and circus culture. Students will have hands-on experiences as they experiment with and collect data on concepts such as: cause and effect, balanced forces, force, mass, and acceleration. Along the way they will be graphing their data to evaluate and communicate their findings. The fourth grade and Circus Arts Conservatory collaboration culminates with a group activity in which students utilize all their comprehension gained from the challenges to design their own chain reaction machine. This is a great opportunity for students to experience how physics is a part of our daily lives, and scientific exploration extends far beyond the classroom.

Fourth graders kicked off this hands-on unit with a special visit from Circus Arts performer-educators as they investigated the relationship between force and motion, mass and force, and the engineering design process. This fantastic fourth grade experience will culminate in a field trip to the Sailor Circus Arena, where students will apply their knowledge at the Marvelous, Miraculous, Circus Machine show!