Submitted Photo Don Haas, from the Institute of Ithaca, spent the day teaching students about dinosaurs and fossils.

WESTFIELD — Feb. 7 was the second Westfield Academy Elementary S.T.E.M. day of the year. The day began with a dinosaur march throughout the auditorium. Thankfully, the dinosaurs ended up being our very own, WACS second graders. These dino-myte second graders led our February STAR program, where we were able to learn some interesting facts about dinosaurs. During the program our new superintendent, Michael Cipolla, was introduced and said a few words. Cipolla also took time out of his day to visit classrooms and work with students on their S.T.E.M. day activities.

As the day went on, students had the opportunity to take pictures with dinosaur cutouts and be involved in dinosaur themed activities. Pre-K students became paleontologists when they dug for dinosaur bones and identified what they discovered. They also created dinosaur fossils and hatched dinosaurs from ice. Kindergarten students had fun when they sorted dinosaurs, made dinosaurs out of play-dough and used their dinosaur measurements to practice graphing.

First grade students worked on dinosaur logic puzzles, measured dinosaur pictures, compared their feet to a triceratops foot print, and even “excavated” chocolate chip cookies. Ms. Hunt’s class did a dinosaur icy excavation activity, made salt dough dinosaur fossils and compared their footprints to dinosaur footprints.

Second grade students participated in a dinosaur dig and students from Mr. Putney’s and Mrs. Machemer’s class presented their dinosaur projects to students in kindergarten. WACS third grade students figured out if they could outrun dinosaurs, worked with 3D dinosaurs, and made their own dinosaur fossils.

Fourth grade students had to use their creativity when they built a dinosaur playground, saw how far they could launch dinosaurs, by building their own catapults and learned about what makes up different colors. Students in fourth grade also buddied up with a student in kindergarten, to read them a variety of dinosaur books. Students in Mrs. Bostwick’s class researched dinosaurs, made balloon dinosaurs, and built dinosaurs out of Q-tips.

It was also a fun filled day for the fifth graders, who were able to measure different dinosaurs, were taught how to sew by Mrs. Stratton, and even dissected owl pellets in Mr. Dellow’s room.

Students in grades pre-k through second grade also had the chance to meet a real paleontologist. Don Haas, from the Institute of Ithaca, spent the day teaching students about dinosaurs and fossils. During this time, students were able to ask questions and see many visuals. This was an exciting portion of the day and we were so thankful to have had Mr. Haas visit our school.

Our next S.T.E.M. day will be on Friday, June 5. Pre-K students will host the STAR program and then students will head back to their rooms to complete different S.T.E.M. activities. The theme of the day will be insects. We can’t wait for this creepy and crawly day!