Daisy Elementary School
K-5
Welcome! Our VW eLab is a space where everyone can come together to create amazing things! Students use communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking while working with makerspaces, tools, machines, technology, and literacy to bring ideas to life and accomplish project goals. Together we will learn, build, and boldly create...one project at a time.
Lab description
Grade Levels:
VW eLab Specialist
Taylor Eller
Since 2023, Taylor Eller has been passionate about creating meaningful experiences where science and creativity come together for every learner in Daisy's VW eLab. Taylor leads with perseverance, inclusion, and creativity, believing every student deserves the opportunity to build confidence, explore new ideas, and achieve their goals.
Impact
At Daisy Elementary, the VW eLab is a place where every student is empowered to create, collaborate, and belong. With the focus of project-based learning and the Engineering Design Process, kindergarten through fifth grade students solve authentic challenges that inspire curiosity, creativity, and innovation while building confidence in their own abilities. Students engage with digital fabrication technologies including 3D printers, laser cutters, makerspace, and computer design software to transform their ideas into tangible solutions. Whether designing prototypes, creating assistive devices, engineering models, or exploring coding and robotics, students learn that mistakes are opportunities to improve and that perseverance is an essential part of innovation. The Daisy VW eLab extends classroom learning through meaningful, cross-curricular experiences that connect science, technology, literacy, engineering, and the arts. Every challenge provides opportunities for students to support one another, celebrate diverse ideas, and recognize that innovation is strongest when everyone has a voice. We believe innovation begins with every mind, and every student deserves the opportunity to imagine, create, and succeed. Together, we are building confident, compassionate problem-solvers who are prepared to make a positive impact in their school, community, and future.
Project Highlights
2nd: Second grade students became young paleontologists as they explored how fossils provide clues about Earth's past. Students created their own salt dough before using a variety of animals and insects to make fossil impressions, learning how fossils form and what they can reveal about living organisms. After creating their own fossil models, students took part in a fossil discovery experience, examining and identifying fossil impressions made by their classmates. This project encouraged curiosity, observation, collaboration, and scientific thinking while helping students understand how evidence from the past allows us to investigate and interpret the natural world. 3rd: Third grade students explored the fundamentals of electrical engineering by learning about circuits, wiring, and safe tool use. They gained hands-on experience with soldering irons, wire cutters, and hot glue guns as they built working circuits before designing and assembling their own drones. Working collaboratively, students wired, soldered, and attached motors while troubleshooting challenges throughout the process. This project strengthened teamwork, perseverance, problem-solving, and confidence as students discovered that complex engineering is achievable through collaboration, patience, and creativity. 5th:Fifth grade students strengthened their scientific thinking by analyzing and working through a variety of experiments designed to build confidence in reading and interpreting scientific procedures. Working collaboratively, students explored chemical reactions, identified and used common laboratory equipment, and developed a deeper understanding of how experiments are designed and conducted. As they solved challenges together, students strengthened their communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills while gaining the confidence to approach scientific investigations with curiosity and independence.
