Getting Started with STEM in your Classroom

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Getting Started with STEM in Your Classroom

If you are not yet teaching STEM in your classroom, the chances are good that you will be within the next few years.

But, what exactly is STEM and how do we go about teaching it?

 

What Does STEM Stand For?

The acronym itself stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

While Science and Math are old staples of formal education, and you may well have come across elements of Technology and Engineering in various other subjects, the main difference in the teaching of these elements under the umbrella term of STEM lies in how they are taught.

However, before we take a closer look at STEM and how it’s taught, you may have noticed a similar acronym floating around containing one extra letter: STEAM.

 

A Quick Word on STEAM

In recent years, the acronym STEAM has become much more visible.

The A here stands for ‘arts’ and refers to art in a broad manner that includes the liberal arts, fine arts, physical arts, and music etc. It was added to encourage the integration of the creative arts into the STEM subject area.

There’s much debate between educators as to the value of this endeavor. Some argue that STEM should retain a clear separation between the sciences and the arts, while others argue the contrary.

This debate is relatively new and as yet unresolved. As a result, there is no clear consensus on what STEAM would actually look like in the classroom. That said, for the purposes of the rest of this article, we will refer exclusively to STEM, though there may well be ample opportunities to weave the arts into many of the STEM-based activities.

 

The STEM Curriculum

STEM in the classroom focuses less on the content of the various aspects of the subject, or the acquisition of theoretical knowledge, and more on learning to apply related skills.

STEM focuses heavily on promoting problem-solving and critical thinking skills to help find solutions. It is, above all, a subject directed at the doing rather than just the knowing.

Common elements of the various STEM curricula usually include elements of the following 3 areas:

Design: using design techniques and tools to solve problems and challenges

Application: applying knowledge and skills to solve real-life problems

Integration: drawing on knowledge and skills from a range of overlapping disciplines

Depending on your situation (the type of school, educational system, level of students, management structure, etc) you will need to decide whether you will be teaching STEM as a discrete subject or weaving it into other areas of an already existing curriculum.

Regardless of how the subject is approached, the following general advice will apply to getting started with STEM in your classroom.

 

Organize the Learning Space

Creating a STEM lab or MAKER SPACE can be both an empowering and an expensive process depending how far you wish to proceed

Creating a STEM lab or MAKER SPACE can be both an empowering and an expensive process depending how far you wish to proceed

STEM is about problem-solving and critical thinking. One of the best ways to develop these skills is through collaboration and teamwork. Before introducing STEM to your students, be sure you have optimized the space available to facilitate group work.

This may mean rearranging tables and chairs. It may even mean removing chairs entirely and grouping smaller desks together to create larger working spaces. These spaces should be suitable for group work and the demands of working on large projects.

In a practical subject such as STEM, safety is a critical factor to consider too. Be sure to have a walk through the area prior to beginning the lesson so that you can identify and eliminate potential hazards.

 

Encourage Collaboration and Teamwork

Project-based learning is a key element of STEM in the classroom. Teamwork and collaboration are essential elements of ensuring the successful completion of any science or engineering project.

There are a number of ways you can encourage collaboration and teamwork in your STEM lessons. Let’s take a look at some of these:

●       Be sure to embed the importance of collaboration and teamwork into the design of your activities

●       Help students understand the importance of teamwork and collaboration

●       Model directly to the students what good teamwork and collaboration look like

●       Establish clear expectations for working together

●       Ensure all learners are engaged and sharing ideas during lessons

●       Build-in discussion opportunities and stress the importance of consensus building

●       Reinforce the idea of collective responsibility

●       Assign meaningful roles and responsibilities, where necessary

●       Encourage self-reflection and evaluation.

 

Be Prepared: Plan, Plan, Plan!

Good planning is essential for any effective teaching to take place, but this is especially true if teaching STEM is new to you. The better prepared you are, the more likely the lesson is to be a success.

Of course, we need to maintain some flexibility in our delivery to respond to the unexpected. However, there are six general elements that are characteristic of any good STEM lesson:

●       Ask a question that focuses on a real-world challenge

●       Make sure students are guided by the engineering design process (more on this below)

●       Involve students in hands-on practical inquiry

●       Ensure students work collaboratively

●       Utilize technology and include Science and Maths content

●       Allow for multiple correct methodologies and solutions

If you manage to include these six elements in each of your lesson plans, you will be well on your way to crafting an effective STEM learning experience for your students.

 

Share Student Learning Objectives

This subject is, to a large degree, about trial and error. It is important that students are not afraid to take chances, make mistakes, and to try new things.

That said, it is equally important that they have a clear focus for their investigations. This means you need to be sure to share objectives with the students at the beginning of the lesson.

You can share your learning objectives orally, but it is often helpful for students to see these objectives written down, whether on the whiteboard or on the top of a task sheet.

In STEM, learning objectives shouldn’t be worded in a way that suggests an expected outcome. Rather, the objective will relate to a central question that is to be explored.

Encourage your students to refer back to this initial problem regularly throughout the lesson to ensure they are maintaining their focus. It is easy at times for students to go off on tangents due to the more open-ended nature of this subject. Be sure to draw them back to task with clearly expressed objectives.

 

Incorporate The Engineering Design Process

Earlier we mentioned the importance of the engineering design process for guiding students, but what is this process?

The engineering design process is a series of steps that can be followed to help students come up with a solution to their problem.

The process encourages an open-minded approach to problem-solving and works under the principle that failure is a necessary part of the learning process. That is, failures are not mistakes, but a means of refining the efficacy of the solution.

There are quite a few versions of this process out there. Usually, they vary in the number of steps but retain common underlying principles.

A little research will turn up these different variants, but here is a simple 5 step version that is very suitable for use in the classroom.



The 5 Step Engineering Design Process

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  1. Ask: Define the problem - without a clear idea of the problem, any further investigations will be unfocused and ineffective

  2. Imagine: Explore possible solutions - brainstorm as a group, then research and analyze the various ideas that arise

  3. Plan: Choose a solution to investigate - identify the resources required and outline proposed methods of investigation

  4. Create: Create something - follow the plan and try things out, what went well and what did not?

  5. Improve: Redesign as necessary - evaluate prototype, revise plan in light of information and knowledge gained.

 

Integrate Technology

Technology, of course, puts the T in STEM and it is essential that it is integrated into your STEM lessons. Like the other elements of the subject, the application of the skills of technology will be applied to find a solution to the identified problem.

When considering where exactly to integrate technology, the steps of the engineering design process above provide a good starting point.

When planning your lesson, consider what technology is available for the students to use and how it can best be employed at each of the 5 steps of the process.

For example, at Step 2 can students use the internet to research the possible solutions or to help analyze the various ideas?

 Or, when working on Step 3, can students use digital models or simulations to help investigate possible solutions?

 

5 Simple STEM Activities

There is no end to the number of activities that can be designed to incorporate the teaching of STEM principles in the classroom.

One of the best things about this subject is that most activities are easy to adapt and differentiate for varying ages and abilities.

It is also worth noting that when looking for STEM activities to do with your students, it is common to come across projects that have prescribed outcomes. This is true especially when the activities are aimed at younger students.

Remember, for STEM to be really meaningful there should be room for some open-ended investigation too.

A good way to test whether there is room for open-ended investigation in a project is to consider whether or not the engineering design process can be applied. Where students are working towards a predetermined outcome, there will be no room for the use of this process.

In the following section, we will take a look at 5 simple activities that can be easily adapted to suit the specific learning needs of your students, while also providing a starting point for the creation of your own ideas for STEM lessons.

 

1. Design a Cell Phone Stand

This activity challenges the students to design and build a simple cell phone stand using the engineering design process. Students will need a cellphone and an assortment of materials to build their designs (card, rubber bands, paperclips, lollipop sticks, glue, tape etc). Task your students with creating a cell phone stand that is functional and convenient and then compare the different designs and prototypes that emerge.

 

2. Build a Baking Soda Rocket

Likely your students will be aware of the explosive potential of baking soda and vinegar from making volcanoes in their kindergarten days. In this activity they will harness the same chemical reaction to power their own rockets. The challenge here is for the students is to select the best available materials to construct an aerodynamically designed craft that will fly as far as possible.

 

3. Blow the Best Bubbles

In this activity, students will explore which mixtures produce the best results for blowing bubbles. Provide the students with a range of options to add to water, including washing up detergent, glycerin, and light corn syrup. They’ll also need measuring cups and something to make the wands from, such as pipe cleaners for example. Students explore what ingredients make the best mixtures and in what quantities each ingredient is required. As an extension, you may challenge students to explore the best materials and shapes for making the wand too.

 

4. Build a Robotic Hand

Challenge your students to research the mechanics of how hands work and use the acquired knowledge to build their own robotic versions that are capable of picking up light objects. Students will learn how bones, muscles, tendons, and joints work together and come up with ideas on how to recreate artificial versions of these. Groups will need to experiment with a wide range of materials, so be sure to have a wide selection of resources available for their experimentations. As a starting point, be sure to have drinking straws, string, tweezers, modeling clay, cardboard tubes, rubber bands, and paperclips available.

 

5. Build the Strongest Bridge

Choose two platforms that the bridges will span. This could be a space between two large books, two tables, etc. Students should investigate various designs and shapes for their bridges and explore the load-bearing properties of various materials. The strongest bridge will span the gap and be able to bear the heaviest load. This activity can be a great way to instil a competitive element into a lesson where groups vie against each other to build the strongest bridge.

 

Go Get Started with STEM!

These are just a few simple ideas from which to build out a STEM focussed lesson for your students. It should be apparent that the possibilities for STEM-based investigations are endless.

Remember though, no matter what the focus of a classroom STEM investigation is, the underlying principles at play will involve students overcoming their fear of failure in favor of the rewards of trial and error.

A classroom atmosphere that encourages curiosity and courageous exploration is the one key essential.

ViralEd showcases excellent educational animations on YouTube

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There is little doubt video is both the present and future of self paced learning, and this week I was contacted by an Australian teacher Chris Burgess who is taking this concept to new heights by creating his own animated high quality educational content at ViralEd. 

It is great to see innovative teachers who can speak the language of modern day teachers and students, and I commend him for this.  His animations and instruction are excellent.

I first and foremost highly recommend checking out ViralEd and subscribing as I know he is working on loads of great new content as we speak.

Below is a sample of the great content he is producing.  If you read on after the video I asked Chris to supply some background about ViralEd.  

So great stuff Chris, keep up the good work and don't forget to subscribe to his channel.

(The content below was written by Chris.) 

About ViralEd
We are a newly formed YouTube channel that creates both enjoyable and easy to understand animated videos that cover a variety of subjects. Unlike most channels our videos we are unique, being made up of teachers, we understand what is needed in the videos, meaning all videos are relevant. As a teacher, we found that videos to support content being taught were hard to come by and therefore this channel was created.
Channel Link:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtdKQw0oZK1u5szxXr9MEA

Check out the videos at our channel the link is provided above. If you like the videos hit the like button, leave a comment on something you think can be improved or subscribe so you don’t miss out on any videos in the future.

Target Audience
If you’re a teacher, pre-service teacher or just someone who loves learning new things this channel is perfect for you. These videos will assist you in your classroom as a visual aid to back up the content being taught. This will therefore assist students in gaining a greater understanding. ‘

Future Aspirations
We currently produce 1 video a week, covering Science and Health and Physical Education topics. As the channel grows in popularity we have planned to cover a wider range of topics and work to producing more frequent videos. We are also working towards providing lesson plans that accompany the videos.

Teach students how to read a weather map

I came across this great resource for students and teachers that puts all things meteorological into a very easy to understand process full of great diagrams and simple language.

Your students will find it much easier to understand what all those squiggly lines mean next time they tune into the nightly news and have a greater insight into the maths and science behind the weather.

Check it out here

Lessons to learn from landing on the moon

Today is the anniversary of the 1969 moon landing, one of mankind's greatest achievements.  It is a little disappointing to think nearly fifty years on we would have done a little more in space but I am hopeful that today's students will take us even further in the future if we share the great accomplishments of the past.

Race to the moon is a good resource for students to gain an understanding of the space race in the sixties and places all of the key events in a simple to follow timeline.  Students can learn about the crew and technology that took us to the moon including the Saturn V rocket which to this day is still the most powerful and fastest 'thing' we have ever created.

Liftoff into Space is a lesson plan that explores the space race and space exploration as a whole.

Finally, what the space race can teach us about collaboration is a useful article for older students to explore the unity and understanding of many required to achieve a common goal.  It could lead into a great activity exploring the collaboration required to send a person to Mars

Climate Change Scavenger Hunt task for students

Purpose : At the end of this ‘scavenger hunt on climate’ students will be able to learn about the vocabulary of climate and science behind it.  It is aimed at students from years 4 to 9.

This scavenger hunt introduces to students information and basics about the Climate, its various zones and factors affecting the climate.  There are 24 scavenger hunt cards with colorful pictures. 

It’s a great tool to explore vocabulary around Climate.

This lesson was submitted by Piyush Bhakar - If you wish to sell us your lesson plans take a look here.

 Instructions -

1.  Download the free lesson plan here.

2. Print the given all 24 cards on a card stock or any other good paper and cut them along the black line.

 3. Get the print of Climate Scavenger Hunt questions pages and each student should be given this copy.

 4. Place Climate Scavenger Hunt cards around the classroom. For example you can place it on chair, on table, on benches, behind the classroom doors, besides the computer or wherever you like.

 5. Students have to search the cards in a classroom in order to find out the answers of the questions. Students can complete this exercise in a group with classmate or alone.

Getting started with Wolfram Alpha in the classroom

Wolfram Alpha is a search engine for statistics and facts.  It is linked to thousands of databases and is an excellent tool for analyzing and comparing data and statistics on virtually any field of interest... Literally anything.

The video below will explain the potential and how it differs from Google, which is a completely different search engine which becomes apparent after some use.

Wolfram Alpha have always understood the potential of using their tool in the classroom and have created an education portal made up of courses and resources for teachers and students.

The resources are more geared to the maths science area and would not be of great interest to junior primary teachers but the product is constantly evolving and works on every platform.

The education portal can be found here.  IF you have been using Wolfram Alpha in creative ways with your students we would love to hear about it in our comments section below.


Choosing the right USB microscope for your classroom

Bring your science lessons to life with a USB Microscope and discover what exists in our world which can’t be seen to the naked eye. 

USB microscopes are an excellent resource that every classroom should have for the following reasons

  • They make science real.  Students will be amazed at what exists on our skin and our environment.  It will literally change their perspective of how they view our world.
  • They allow students and teachers to use a high quality scientific tool that can be shared on interactive whiteboards, computers and mobile devices. No longer are they a single user experience.
  • The cost of these devices is now too good to pass up on.  You can spend $30 or $3,000 depending on your needs and budget but even the cheapest of USB microscopes offers great teaching and learning opportunities.

Today we are going to look at three different models that hopefully will fit your budget and meet your teaching needs.

Please note that buying any digital microscope can become a little misleading and confusing at times with some ridiculous claims about zoom capacity and other specifications.  Stick to the basics and do your homework online if you are unsure.

Be aware that the optical zoom is a true enlargement using the lenses of the device.  A digital zoom is a just a computerised enlargement.  Always refer to the optical zoom as your guide.

Celestron 44302 Deluxe Handheld Digital Microsocope – A Great Starting point.

The Celestron 44302 is a great starting point for either a student or, teacher and more importantly an excellent option to buy in bulk for a classroom.

It will definitely offer you an instant plug and play solution and the software is simple enough for students to master in a few minutes.  The build quality is good and it can take a little abuse.

The optics give good pictures. The included software is basic, but works well on Windows and Mac. The biggest barrier to making good use of this item is thinking of it as a traditional microscope as it can be used as a portable device by removing it from the stand, which is generally how most people will use it.

The focus and lighting features can be a little touchy at times and occasionally there it just too much glare for my linking, and it is at this point you realise you are using a $50 microscope.

Your students will love trawling the playground to discover new items to explore on the Celestron.

All in all though this is a great introduction to USB microscopes for teachers and students.  It offers good image quality for the price and you can feel confident it will be still working in a few years’ time if you treat it with a little respect.

 

AmScope 10x-20x-30x-60x Advanced All Metal Full Glass Optics Student Binocular Stereo Microscope with Incident (Top) and Transmitted (Bottom) Lights

In stepping up to the Am scope you are getting a genuine glass optical microscope that offers up to 60x optical zoom and for under $300.

You are getting a premium piece of equipment for a secondary science lab or a tool primary teachers might want to use to really enhance something students have been looking at on their lower specced microscopes such as the Celestron.

It offers excellent image quality and is very well built.  Be aware that this unit is a static microscope and would not recommend moving it around too much unlike the celestron listed above.

This microscope exceeded my expectations greatly and it would be fair to compare it with the university standard microscopes I have used many years ago at a fraction of the cost and twice the ability thanks to the USB connectivity and software supplied..

The unit comes assembled. There is a second pair of higher power top lenses supplied, but the lower power ones that come pre-installed are perfect.  The bottom lens changes between 1 and 3 power.  You will find this unit to be very precise for the vast majority of use.

Pros:
- Wide objective makes it fairly easy to find your target
- Interchangeable stage plates are great for when you need contrast (or don't) to see your specimen well
- Binocular-style eyepieces make it easy to adjust when switching viewers

Cons:
- Rough focus can be a little hard to achieve with a specimen already on the stage.  Ensure you have a good grip on this thing or it may end in tears.

AmScope 3.5X-90X Simul-Focal Trinocular Articulating Microscope + 5M USB Camera

This is a professional piece of equipment coming in at under $1000 dollars.  It offers a super wide field of vision and excellent image quality which is far superior to anything else in this price bracket.

I’ll be honest and state that I have never used this unit but I worked with a metallurgist who raved about the clarity of vision and ultra-precise measuring tools which are included in the software.  For a professional laboratory piece of equipment under $1000 this would be worth investigating.

 

Christmas Energy Science Lesson

Energy is required for all activities.  Santa and his reindeer require energy too.  This fun worksheet will allow students to think about kinetic and potential energy while thinking about everyone’s favorite December topic – Christmas.  Students are given different scenarios and are able to consider the key concepts of kinetic energy or something in motion versus potential energy where action could occur if there was a force applied.  Let’s hop aboard Santa’s sleigh ride and travel around the world. 

Click here to download the complete lesson plan for free