STEMming It Up In Your Classroom Kevin Hill Elementary Science/STEM Teacher Specialist Wicomico County Public Schools

What do you think of when you hear STEM?

Questions about STEM?

What should STEM look like?  Learn and Apply Rigorous Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Content  Integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Content  Interpret and Communicate STEM Information  Engage in Inquiry  Engage in Logical Reasoning  Collaborate as a STEM Team  Apply Technology Appropriately STEM Standards of Practice

Sometimes it looks like… STEM S t EM ST e M STE m s TEM SteM ste M

Keep in mind:  STEM is NOT something separate.  STEM is NOT content.  STEM is HOW you teach content.  STEM NEEDS context.  STEM is NOT ALWAYS building something.  STEM is collaborative project based learning.

Planning for STEM  Two ways to go about planning a STEM unit:  Project First  Content First

Project First Planning The STEM Continuum Final Project Math ELA Science Social Studies The content that needs to be covered all depends on the needs of the project. Any content can be added or removed as the teacher sees fit for the students.

Content First Planning The STEM Continuum Final Project Math ELA Science Social Studies The project created depends on what content needs to be covered. Any content can be added or removed as the teacher sees fit for the students.

Planning Templates Science Content:Engineering:English/Language Arts: Math: Project Overarching Question/Real-World Problem: Social Studies: Fine Arts:

Planning Templates Book Title: RELAMathScienceSocial Studies Engineering/ Design Project

Resources  ScienceWISE Wiki  Teach Engineering  Project Based Learning  Rubistar

The Bottom Line…  The students are working together in small groups to solve some kind of problem.  Give the students a context for the problem.  Start with either your content first or a project idea and plan from there.  You have to provide your students with the knowledge before you can ask them to apply the knowledge.  Many lessons may look just like regular lessons you would teach anyway, but now the students have a purpose for learning.  You may have to teach a mini-lesson on something outside of your content area so your students can be successful on their project.  Let them fail. They will learn from their failures and fixtures.

"If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.“ -Ken Robinson “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.” -Rachel Carson ( ), American biologist and nature writer “Observation is the absolute basis of all knowledge. The first object, then, in education, must be to lead the child to observe with accuracy; the second, to express with correctness the results of his observation.” - Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ( ) “There is no try. There is only do or do not.” -Yoda