Kindness didn’t take a tumble as fifth grade students at Stillwater Elementary led a school-wide collaboration with the Kindness Club for an extraordinary STEAM experience.

Fifth grade students have recently been investigating physics in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) Lab with teacher Wendy Johnston. More specifically, they’ve been learning about the transfer of energy and the domino effect. To bring this lesson to life, students worked to create their own domino effect with cereal boxes.

To make this happen, students asked the Stillwater Elementary community for help. A flier was sent home that explained the project and kindly requested families to donate an unopened box of cereal. Members of the Kindness Club also designed posters that were displayed around the building to bring awareness to the endeavor. All donations would go to the Stillwater Elementary Backpack Program.

Between Oct. 2 and Oct. 13, the Stillwater Elementary community collected a total of 432 unopened boxes of cereal. Kindness Club members gathered the boxes each day and their excitement grew as more donations came in. Fifth grade students then utilized their math and mapping skills to plan the pathway for the event by estimating and taking measurements in the school hallways.

The preparation and hard work of fifth grade students culminated on Friday, Oct. 20, as cereal boxes lined the first floor hallways of Stillwater Elementary. With a countdown from three and a round of applause, students and staff from all grades watched the domino effect with amazement as each cereal box fell one by one. Once complete, the boxes were reset and the tumble was repeated in reverse.

This project was more than a STEAM lesson; it was a valuable learning experience for students in communication, teamwork, listening and compromise. Furthermore, it brought the Stillwater Elementary community together for a fun event that benefitted the school’s backpack program.

“These are the types of experiences we love to provide to our students! This was an “all in” event that had students from every grade level asking questions, thinking, wondering, and getting excited about learning,” said STEAM teacher Wendy Johnson.

“Many have already asked if we will do the Cereal Box Domino Challenge again and that’s the plan. Hopefully, we will have an even bigger impact next year!”

Watch the cereal box tumble on our Facebook page here!