Watson students learn critical thinking

This year, students at Watson Elementary School are immersed in creative and collaborative problem solving in the domains of mathematics, engineering and technology. They are learning to imagine, envision, plan, calculate and check hypotheses in order to solve problems.

Two recent school-wide events, funded by the Rockville Centre Education Foundation, promoted this objective.

In early October, an assembly, the World of Robotics, was the catalyst connecting classroom learning to real life problem solving. Students learned that robots can help turn the impossible into the possible.

On the evening of Oct. 23, more than 200 students and their parents participated in the Innovative Problem Solving and Brain Games Night. Throughout the night students were challenged to solve a wide array of problems. They competed to create the tallest free standing tower made completely out of aluminum foil, they learned knot-tying techniques, designed boats, created catapults and used their critical thinking skills to solve brain-teasers.

The night was a huge success for children, parents and teachers alike.