Hands-On Learning


Bayville Elementary School learning went full steam ahead with a creative, on-site field trip that brought science and technology alive for students. A mobile STEAM museum was set up in the BI gymnasium for K-5 students to visit. The hands-on exhibits allowed them to learn firsthand how various technologies work.

Museum visitors pedaled a bicycle to activate colored lights using their own energy, drew colorful patterns to direct the motion of a tiny line-tracking robot, and placed soft blocks together in the correct order to build an arch and discover why this incredibly strong structure is used for building. Rolling objects down a friction raceway taught participants about the levels of friction created by combining various textures.

STEAM education incorporates science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics. Bayville Elementary School Principal Scott McElhiney said that these are important topics for young children to explore. “Exposure to STEAM in a playful environment helps to foster a love for these subjects,” he explained. “Developing these interests now will hopefully help them to explore these subjects at the middle and high school levels.”

It was clear that the museum was a big hit as children enthusiastically traveled to each exhibit and returned to their favorites for a second time. Eyes opened wide as they watched balls and scarves float in the air or the line-tracking robots trace the pictures they had just drawn. Some of the stations exposed students to fields of study they did not even know existed.

Mobile Ed’s STEAM Museum was brought to the school by the Bayville PTA, and several PTA members volunteered to help at each station.