Red Bank Elementary
K-5
At Red Bank Elementary’s VW eLab, K–5 students turn curiosity into purposeful creations. Through project-based learning and the engineering design process, students connect classroom concepts to real-world challenges, from protecting our school forest to building working models. We emphasize process over product, nurturing creativity, collaboration, and confidence as students test ideas, learn from mistakes, and grow as problem solvers.
Lab description
Grade Levels:
VW eLab Specialist
Emily Moore
Emily Moore connects elementary learning with real-world problem solving through engineering and project-based learning. A two-time Red Bank Elementary Teacher of the Year, she holds a master’s in elementary education from The Ohio State University and helped the school earn Leading eLab Certification. She helps young learners see themselves as capable creators and innovators.
Impact
At Red Bank Elementary, the VW eLab gives students a place to put their learning to work. Across K–5, projects connect academic content with challenges that invite students to ask questions, make decisions, create solutions, and explain their thinking. The engineering design process makes revision part of learning: students plan, create, test, improve, and share. That connection reaches beyond the lab. Second graders take on erosion in the school forest, bringing environmental science into a place they know and care about. First graders explore plant needs and materials as greenhouse engineers. Fifth graders create chain-reaction machines, connecting individual steps into a system that completes a simple task. These experiences also connect to our LION commitments: leadership, innovation, ownership, and never-give-up grit. Students practice listening to teammates, communicating ideas, honoring commitments, and working through setbacks. A design that needs another try becomes a reason to investigate and improve. By connecting classroom learning, outdoor spaces, and purposeful making, the eLab helps students see that their ideas have value and that they can contribute to their school community.
Project Highlights
Forest Erosion Solutions | Second Grade Students stepped into the role of environmental engineers to address erosion in the Red Bank Elementary forest. Their challenge was to design solutions that slow or prevent soil loss. The project connected learning about how water changes land with responsibility for a shared outdoor space. Students used the engineering design process to develop ideas and practiced communicating the reasoning behind their choices. Greenhouse Engineers | First Grade First graders tackled a design challenge with two goals: create a greenhouse that helps plants grow and allows gardeners to see clearly inside. The project connected plant needs with the properties of materials, encouraging students to consider how a material’s ability to let light through affects its usefulness. Planning a shared design also gave students a purpose for listening carefully and considering teammates’ ideas. Chain-Reaction Machines | Fifth Grade Fifth graders worked as systems engineers to create a machine that uses a chain reaction to accomplish a simple task. The challenge asked students to think about how separate parts work together and how one action sets the next in motion. Building and refining a connected sequence brought cause and effect, problem solving, and teamwork into the same task. The project’s focus on integrity reinforced dependable participation and following through on team commitments.
