🌌 Glen Arden Elementary School third graders toured through the solar system in a unique way last week, thanks to a science and design competition hosted by the Asheville Museum of Science (AMOS).
For the past several weeks, students from Glen Arden, Black Mountain Primary School, and Oakley Elementary School have been working in teams to design board games that educate and quiz their peers about the solar system. The Galaxy Games showcase is a partnership involving local school systems, AMOS, and GE Aviation in Asheville, which donated funding for supplies and field trips to the museum through the Buncombe County Schools Foundation. The competition asked third graders to design board games that connect to AMOS exhibition themes and follow one of three topics: “Journey Through the Solar System,” “Shadow Quest,” or “Starry Night Adventure.”
“Out of each of these games, one from each category will be featured in an exhibit at the museum,” said BCS science specialist Kate Whittier. “This is authentic learning at its finest, giving the kids motivation to really internalize and apply what they’re learning.”
On Thursday, the Glen Arden students and their chaperones moved around the AMOS STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) Lab, trying out each other’s games and proudly explaining their own. The games ranged from a “Guess Who” concept to one resembling “Monopoly” and even a unique game that challenged participants to pull a card with a specific Solar System object like Jupiter and then think up words or phrases related to the object and collect letters from the board for each correct answer.
“I liked making Galaxy Cards that you get when you land on a space and also designing the board,” said Anna, one of the third graders. “I loved learning about the planets, like I learned that Mercury is the only planet that doesn’t really have an atmosphere. I also liked learning about the asteroid belt.”
Leila, whose team made the “Guess Who” game, said she loved converting that gameplay style for this science application.
“I liked working with the group and knowing that I was building something,” she said. “I didn’t know that you could make a board game. That’s really cool.”
This year’s competition had a particular focus on integrating art, said BCS arts specialist Laura Mitchell.
“Art is deeply connected to design,” she said. “It’s important that the things we create are functional but also beautiful. We really saw that this year the games are aesthetically elevated. The kids are thinking about how color and shape and contrast make it easier to connect with the natural world.”