Second graders at Mandalay Elementary School in Wantagh brought science lessons to life by creating imaginative islands as part of a unit on landforms.
In class, students have been learning about the different landforms that make up their planet. A landform is a natural, recognizable physical feature on the Earth's surface such as a mountain, valley, plain, or plateau that makes up the terrain.
The geographic features vary in size from small hills to vast ocean basins and significantly influence local ecosystems, climate, and human settlement. This knowledge was reinforced through a hands-on project with STEAM teacher Alexa Stroh.
Second graders cut a piece of white paper in any shape they wanted to make their island, then glued it down on a blue construction paper, which represented the ocean. For the second part of the project, students took Model Magic to make 3D landforms including a coastline, mountains and plains. They could even add a body of water like a lake or a river, and then use markers to color all of the landforms the appropriate colors.
Stroh added that the final piece of the project will be the students creating map keys for their islands.
