Reflection of Knowledge
Not your average science fair!
Thursday, May 20, 2021
Virtual Zoom Event
Join PE students and families in celebrating a year of STEM learning at our annual program-culminating event.
Project Exploration’s annual, student-led showcase give PE youth the platform to show the world the future of science, engineering, and technology! Join us to learn first-hand from our young people, see their projects in action, and hear about their STEM passions. Then, stay for the awards ceremony at which each young person will be recognized for their growth in program, while PE program graduates get inducted into our alumni club with their own personalized lab coats!
Featured School Partners
Plato Learning Academy
Kindergarten to 8th Grade – Building Block Club and STEMQuest
Plato Learning Academy joined the PE family in 2020, and quickly scaled up programs from serving just 6-8th grade students to the entire student body. This semester, students have been immersed in Engineering Design Challenges made possible by our partners at the James Dyson Foundation, robotics with curriculum adapted from FIRST Lego League, and Plato’s 3rd-4th graders are looking forward to participating in the Chicago Student Invention Convention! Participating students will choose and share their favorite STEM projects from this year at our 2021 Virtual Reflection of Knowledge Event.
Howe School of Excellence and Ella Flagg Young Elementary School
6th to 8th Grade Students – STEMQuest
Through PE’s Partnership with Beyond the Bell, we started providing STEMQuest to 6th to 8th grade students at both schools starting in the Fall of 2020. Students at Howe and Young are currently preparing for the Chicago Student Invention Convention! In this program, students will choose a problem affecting their lives or community and create an invention to help solve the problem with the support of their STEM Facilitator! Inspiring curiosity, confidence, and creative problem-solving in our youth, students will leave with strong skills around critical thinking, creativity, and innovation.
George Leland Elementary School
3rd to 8th Grade – STEMQuest
Leland Elementary School has been part of the PE family since 2017, when PE opened the doors at the West Side STEM Learning Center, which sits on the Leland campus. We were excited to have the opportunity to keep serving their students virtual when the pandemic threatened our ability to do virtual programs. Students at Leland have participated in a wide array of STEM topics and projects this semester from Life Science to Aviation! Students in 5th grade are currently preparing their prototypes for the Chicago Student Invention Convention. Participating students will choose and share their favorite STEM projects from this year at our 2021 Virtual Reflection of Knowledge Event.
Ariel Community Academy
5th Grade Students – STEMQuest
A nearly 20 year old partner to Project Exploration, Ariel Community Academy and their students will share their inventions they’ve been building throughout the Spring semester in preparation for the Chicago Student Invention Convention! In this program, students will choose a problem affecting their lives or community and create an invention to help solve the problem with the support of their STEM Facilitator! Inspiring curiosity, confidence, and creative problem-solving in our youth, students will leave with strong skills around critical thinking, creativity, and innovation.
Lawndale Community Academy
Kindergarten to 7th Grade Students – Building Block Club and STEMQuest
Project Exploration was proud to have joined forces with LCA in 2020 when a school counselor who had been familiar with PE at his previous school wanted to ensure students at Lawndale could also benefit from high-quality STEM Programs! In Building Block Club for K-1st students and STEMQuest 3rd-5th graders this semester, students have enjoyed PE’s Life Science Curriculum and discovered the world around them and all of its amazing organisms! 6th-7th graders have been introduced to the world or aerospace engineering and aeronautics! A fantastic volunteer, a retired Air Force veteran, helped PE’s STEM Facilitators build out lesson plans to allow students to explore the dynamics that make flight possible. Students will present their own independent projects at this year’s Reflection of Knowledge event.
Holy Family School
Kindergarten to 1st Grade Students – Building Block Club
Neighboring PE’s West Side STEM Learning Center, PE first partnered with PE in 2019 to enrich their students’ learning with high-quality STEM! When Covid-19 forced programs to go virtual, Holy Family looked to have continued support for STEM in their after-school programs. Students have spent this semester competing in design challenges from the James Dyson Foundation, and exploring Life Science with curriculum from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Students will have the opportunity to share their favorite project and what they learned at Reflection of Knowledge!
Featured STEM@home Programs:
Little Sisters4Science
3rd to 5th Graders
Young ladies in Little Sisters4Science have been immersed in the world of Life Science this semester with our friends at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. They’ve learned about the world around them and all of its amazing organisms, including nursing their own caterpillars into butterflies! See these budding ecologists in action at this year’s Reflection of Knowledge Event!
Brothers4Science
6th to 8th Grade Students
Young men in Brothers4Science have worked alongside their STEM Facilitators this semester to learn about the world of Aviation, and completed engineering design challenges with our friends at Chicago Mobile Makers. Presenting students will share their favorite projects and STEM passions with anyone lucky enough to hear their projects at Reflection of Knowledge.
Building Block Club
Kindergarten to 2nd Grade Students
Our youngest virtual learners have been immersed in a world of engineering design challenges this semester thanks to our friends at the James Dyson Foundation! Encourage to try new things and find solutions, each activity has pushed students to be innovative, creative, make observations, and draw conclusions. By the end of the program and by the time they present at Reflection of Knowledge, they’ll be “junior” STEM professionals with their newfound design skills!
Little Brothers4Science
3rd to 5th Grade Male Students
The young men in Little Brothers4Science this semester have been learning about engineering, physics, simple machines, and the design elements that make mazes and rollercoasters exciting! Using recyclable materials, they’ve created larger than life marble mazes that you may just get a glimpse of at Reflection of Knowledge!
Sisters4Science
6th to 8th Grade Students
These young ladies are gearing up for the Chicago Student Invention Convention, and will present their prototypes for their inventions not only at the CSIC competition, but also at Reflection of Knowledge! Having troubleshooted together to solve a real-world problem affecting their lives or community, their inventions represent their growing curiosity, confidence, and creative problem-solving skills!
RSVP
Register a Student to Present
STUDENTS, don’t forget to sign up to showcase your favorite projects in the world of STEM with PE / STEM@Home from this past school year!