The OHEF is excited to welcome Polymer Pat back to Oak Hills for the 2026 - 2027 school year! With a hands-on science curriculum in our classrooms, students have the opportunity to engage in the field of STEAM in a tangible, meaningful way.

Below we have included the topics the students will explore, along with the schedule. 

We are looking forward to each of the students' questions, predictions, theories, investigations, and so much more! 

The OHEF helps fund this in-class program.  

2026 - 2027 Lessons & Schedule

Grade & Lesson Description	Lesson & Date
UPK ​  LET'S MAKE SENSE: Discover our 5 senses one sense at a time. Learn how our pupils work, depth perception and peripheral vision. Map our tongue and become taste detectives. Use sense of touch in our mystery Feely Bags, have a smelling bee, listen to a fork sing.  GET BUGGY: Become an entomologist and get up close and personal with the bug world. Learn the difference between arachnids and insects as you examine real living specimens of each. Learn how insects communicate and see the world the way insects do. Spin a web and make an insect you can eat. ​	Let's Make Sense - September 21, 2026 Get Buggy! - April 19, 2026
Kindergarten ​GET BUGGY: Become an entomologist and get up close and personal with the bug world. Learn the difference between arachnids and insects as you examine real living specimens of each. Learn how insects communicate and see the world the way insects do. Spin a web and make an insect you can eat. ​ LET'S MAKE SENSE: Discover our 5 senses one sense at a time. Learn how our pupils work, depth perception and peripheral vision. Map our tongue and become taste detectives. Use sense of touch in our mystery Feely Bags, have a smelling bee, listen to a fork sing.  ​	Get Buggy! - October 23, 2026 Let's Make Sense - February 19, 2026
1st Grade SEA YA LATER: Discover the role of producers and consumers in nature as we examine all the players in the Food Web on land and our seas. We'll also learn about different  habitats and how animals and plants have adaptations to help them survive. Touch a real stingray/shark and make an ocean habitat to keep. SMARTY PLANTS: "Trans-plant" yourself into the wonderful world of Botany. Learn how plants absorb nutrients from the soil. Discover the life cycle of plants as you dissect seeds, extract chlorophyll from leaves and grow your own "Hair-cup".	Sea Ya Later - TBD Smarty Plants - January 25, 2027
2nd Grade FUN MACHINES: Finally, a hands-on and FUN program on machines. Explore force and motion as we measure distance and speed using cars and the "gravi-ramps." Learn about the 6 simple machines using the "Facilitator", our cool multi-personality compound machine.  FOSSIL FUN: Become a paleontologist as you learn how fossils form. Examine and classify real fossils and go on your own site excavation for real fossils you get to keep. Prepare to get down and dirty as we examine different soils and learn the gritty facts about dirt.  ​	Fun Machines - March 12, 2027 Fossil Fun - April 30, 2027
3rd Grade WEATHER OR NOT: Students become meteorologists and learn all about the different types of weather. Explore the sun's role in weather by creating rising air masses and touching clouds. Use common tools to measure the weather, touch lightning and make your very own windsock. SURVIVE AND THRIVE: Explore the world of physical and behavioral adaptations. Experience firsthand the protection  blubber, feathers, fur and a hard shell can provide. Test your skills in our bird beak survival challenge. Learn survival techniques from plants like the Saguaro cactus as you make a desert habitat.	Survive and Thrive - October 26, 2026 Weather or Not - February 8, 2027
4th Grade EDISON'S WORKSHOP: An electrifying program! Learn what electricity actually is and the difference between static and current electricity. Along the way, build a series/ parallel circuit, experiment with conductors and insulators, and take home a Static Electricity Flyer.  EARTHSCAPES: The earth's surface is constantly being reshaped by slow and rapid natural processes like weathering and erosion.  Experiment with water and chemical erosion, level a wooden structure with an epic earthquake, erupt a volcano and make cave formations. Make oozing "Magma" to keep.  ​	Edison's Workshop - October 16, 2026 Earthscapes - May 20, 2027
5th Grade WHAT'S THE MATTER: Students explore mass, volume and density as they experiment with all three states of matter. Learn how thermal energy transforms matter from one state to another. Uncover the difference between physical and chemical changes and make a bouncy polymer to keep. WONDER WATER WORKSHOP: Students explore the water cycle and see evaporation and condensation happen right before their eyes. They'll examine the role of water on land and our oceans. They'll learn about various water resources as they build their own aquifer to keep and experiment with water conservation.  ​	What's the Matter - November 12, 2026 Wonder Water Workshop - March 18, 2027
6th Grade COSMIC CAPERS: Our young astrophysicists explore the creation of our universe. They'll learn how solar systems, stars, planets and satellites come into existence out of cosmic nebulas. They'll explore fusion and make their own light-emiting fusion balls. They'll learn the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse and make a model they can manipulate and take home. This program is out of this world! METEOROLOGY MADNESS: Become a meteorologist as you explore weather systems, the atmosphere and air pressure with our micro-scale vacuums. Learn about and work with tools weather scientists use to measure and predict the weather. Make a functional anemometer to keep. ​	Cosmic Capers - September 14, 2026 Meteorology Madness - March 1, 2027

High Touch High Tech delivers in-school science field-trips that transform your classroom into a Living Laboratory! Kids become a real scientist and learn by doing the actual experiments. These programs are totally hands-on and totally participatory by each child.