1. STEAM EDUCATION
DOs and DON’Ts

2. What is STEAM? Science is the study of the natural world
Technology refers to any product made by humans to meet a want or a need
Engineering is the design process used to solve problems
(a chair, a pencil, etc…is technology)
The A stands for the broad spectrum of the arts going well beyond aesthetics; it includes the liberal arts, formally folding in Language Arts, Social Studies, Physical Arts, Fine Arts & Music that each shape developments in STEM fields.

3. Art goes well beyond aesthetics; includes liberal arts, Physical and Fine Arts and music that shape developments in STEM fields
Math is the language of numbers, shapes, and quantities

4. Vocabulary Tower
The students will be designing and building a tower out of their index cards.
The tower must be able to hold the weight of an apple or cell phone. You can also choose objects of different masses to make the challenge easier or more difficult.
Vocabulary is a vital piece of any content area in education. Students need to be able to use and understand vocabulary in order to be successful.
This design challenge can be used to give a hands-on approach to teaching vocabulary.
You as the teacher can choose the item.

5. Index cards (10-20 per group) Colored Pencils Markers Vocabulary List
Materials Needed:
Index cards (10-20 per group)
Colored Pencils
Markers
Vocabulary List
(we are going to use the
engineering design process)

7. Design Challenge
1. Students will be given index cards. The number of cards varies depending on how many vocabulary words that you have.
2. The students design each card with a definition, picture and a sentence or uses for each vocabulary word.
3. The cards should be colored and be aesthetically appealing to look at. A good rule of thumb is to tell the students there should be no white showing on their card.
Also make sure that you can read the information on the card. Pencil does not show well when it is colored over.

8. 4. Once the cards are finished you will give them another index cards. These are blank cards that the students can use to complete the design, create and improve phase of the engineering process.
5. Once the students have completed all three of those engineering phases then they will build their tower using the cards with the vocabulary words.
4. You can skip this step if you lack resources. However if you do it this way then it will require them to go through the engineering process.

9. In the Ask section, I added “Can you design and build a tower that holds a heavy weight?” In the Plan section, I added “My tower will use ____ index cards. It is _______ (inches, cm) tall.” In the Create section, I added the question “Did your tower hold the weight?” In the Improve section, I added “Can you improve your tower to hold more weight?”
Does anyone have any ideas on how to use this activity in your classroom?
We used it as an intro to our Six Flags Over Texas PBL challenging students to create a new ride/roller coaster that went “up” instead of out-6 Flags can’t purchase any more land, but they wanted new innovative rides……..

10. DON’Ts Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know
Don’t expect quiet, boring, classrooms
Don’t shine the light on you-you are not the “Sage on the Stage”

11. Don’t spoon feed the students-let them think for themselves
Don’t forget what you want students to know and do in the areas of STEAM-start at the end and work your way back

12. Don’t exclude students who have not mastered the essential concepts
Don’t overlook the students who have already demonstrated mastery
Don’t lose sight of how you will know that students have mastered the essential outcomes

13. Don’t get in the way, remember to step back and give students enough room to begin their journey toward becoming creative, innovative, and critical thinkers.
Don’t take life too seriously…………
HAVE FUN!

14. Things to Do: Focus on real-world issues and problems
Use the engineering design process as your guide
Immerse students in hands-on inquiry and open ended exploration integrating all subjects

15. Involve students in productive teamwork-model what this looks and sounds like
Apply rigorous math and science content your students are learning
Embrace cooperative learning
Collaborate with others

16. Involve community and local experts
Allow for multiple right answers and reframe failure as a necessary part of learning
Involve community and local experts
HAVE FUN!

17.
Another unit we did was: Talk about how we turned this into the periodic table of elements, atoms, history of ferris wheels, state fair concrete poem, mathematical parameters,

18. What makes the world go ‘round
History: Research the history of Ferris wheels, State Fairs, etc…
Science: Atoms and Elements (periodic table made with final ferris wheels)
Math: angles, vertices, measurements
ELA: concrete poems about the State Fair
Physical Education: Historical games from the early 1900s
Music: Folk music compilation
Art: quilting, butter carving, etc…
Technology and Engineering: Ferris wheel had to work and include the element atom on one side and math vocabulary on the other
Community Involvement: Parks and Rec, Texas Instruments, Local individuals who work out at the state fair

20. Spoon Catapults

21. Punkin’ Chunkin’ History: Students researched catapults and trebuchets
Science: Recycled materials to make their alien; speed and velocity observed and measured
Reading: Biographies read of historical figures from medieval times
English: Written biography of aliens
Math: Measurement of aliens and distance punkins traveled
Physical Education: Jumping and throwing activities
Music: Found/created music to “match” their alien and catapult. Songs/raps written to express what they have learned throughout the unit
Art: Alien, carved pumpkins-historical figure
Technology and Engineering: Building of catapults, weebly websites created to show all components
Community Involvement: Local government officials and law enforcement invited, discussions about lockdown procedures for the city in case of an “invasion”
Local builders, contractors, district plant services, and engineers invited to speak and work with the students
Talk about how we chunked punkins at aliens made out of recyclable goods-they were attacking our town. Students had to write a biography about their alien (where it was from, family, what it eats, likes, etc….), the trebuchets/catapults had to be a minimum height, students painted or carved pumpkins representing famous individuals from different time periods and expertise-they also estimated weight, circumference, seeds of their pumpkins, then we made baked pumpkin seeds

23. Girls Rock!