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Teacher Session 1: Building the Groundwork for a STEM Culture

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Teacher Session 1: Building the Groundwork for a STEM Culture

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Learning Targets

I CAN explain how the Five Essential Elements of STEM contribute to a STEM culture and frame experiences for future-ready learners.

I CAN navigate Discovery Education’s Digital Resources to utilize in a lesson.

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Teacher Session 2: STEM Culture: Collaborating and Communicating

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Teacher Session 2: STEM Culture: Collaborating and Communicating

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I CAN use resources within Discovery Education to promote communication and collaboration.

I CAN create a lesson grounded in STEM Connect, infusing communication and/or collaboration to facilitate a learning experience in my classroom.

I CAN share my classroom and STEM teaching and learning best practices with a colleague.

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I will design activities for my weekly STEM days to focus on the new science standards. First semester we developed the standard "Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems" Third quarter we will develop the standard "Weather and Climate". For the Fourth quarter we will develop the final standard "Forces and Interactions".

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I will develop lessons and labs for STEM that will directly correlate with our Science Standards. We will begin with a unit on Matter 2nd quarter that will be co-taught with myself and Lori Morgan on the STEM days.  I will be providing the background information and then we will be performing Labs during our STEM time each week. 3rd quarter we will use the same model to cover the topic of The Shape of Earth and then finally 4th quarter we will cover Relationships in our Ecosystem.

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I will work to implement SOS instructional strategies into different content areas. I will also work to add new 4th Grade Science standards into current Math and Reading content.

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Students have been practicing Point of View in Reading.  In class, we watched a short video on Hurricane Katrina (DiscoveryEd website) and students made connections between the event and themselves.  They jotted down notes/facts/interesting details from the storm onto dots and drew lines when that information made a personal connection to them.
Then we read "Remembering Hurricane Katrina" in our Reading/Writing Workshop book. We skipped sharing our Connect the Dots papers because of time.

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Student Samples

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I will collaborate with classroom teachers to ensure that our STEM lessons address NE science standards and that they engage our students in developing their critical thinking skills and scientific knowledge.

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Students modeled bee behavior by gathering "nectar" from flowers and bringing it back to the hive, while spreading "pollen" in the process. This fit into a lesson sequence about organisms helping each other.

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This will be made into a book showing the habitats we found walking around the school. We will take pictures again in the winter to talk about changes in habitats and how the animals need to adjust.

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The children are experimenting with Bee Bots before we begin using the mats to direct our Bee Bots to follow specific directions.

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Now the children are in groups of four. Their job is to direct the Bee Bot to go to the child next to them on the grid. This continued until all children got the Bee Bot.

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Teacher Session 3: STEM Culture: Creativity and Critical Thinking

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Teacher Session 3: STEM Culture: Creativity and Critical Thinking

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Learning Targets

I CAN use resources within Discovery Education to promote creativity and critical thinking.

I CAN describe the difference between an effective teacher and a teacher leader.

I CAN create a lesson grounded in STEM Connect, infusing creativity and critical thinking, to facilitate a learning experience in my classroom.

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We concluded our study of habitats by reading our class book we made about habitats around school. After reading the story of The Three Little Pigs, groups of four had to make a house out of popsicle sticks and masking tape. Each group was given 50 sticks and a roll of tape. After the structures were made we tested their strength by having a fan (the big bad wolf) blow on them.

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Students learned about the engineering process and how engineers determine a problem, design a solution and then build prototypes. The problem they had was the gingerbread man needed to get across the river. With toothpicks and marshmallows as their supplies they needed to build a bridge to get across. Students researched about different types of bridges and then designed it and sketched it out. After that was done they started building their prototype.

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Second graders have been learning and practicing the reading comprehension skill "Main Idea and Key Details." In class, we listened to the short close read story "Tornados" in our Wonders Reading/Writing Workshop book. Then we went through the story a second time and made some personal connections. I modeled mine under the document camera and the kids wrote their's in their reading journals. We wrote "Tornados" in the middle of the paper and our names at the top. I modeled writing some facts and info from the story then connecting the dots when there was a personal connection. Students did the same thing. When we finished students worked with a turn and talk partner to share.

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I will be working with Lori Morgan to develop STEM lessons and labs that correlate with our new science standards. I will be teaching the background information using the Discovery Ed Tech book to provide some background information and to set the foundation. Lori will set up STEM labs during her co-taught with myself STEM time each week. 2nd qtr. we will be working through a "Matter" unit, 3rd quarter "The Shape of the Earth," and 4th qtr. "Relationships in our Ecosystem."

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Students made habitats based on learning what animals need to survive and the environment they live in.

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Teacher Session 4: Building STEM Culture: Reflection of Growth

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Teacher Session 4: Building STEM Culture: Reflection of Growth

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I CAN create opportunities for my students to demonstrate future readiness based on evidence.

I CAN describe how to use assessment strategies to support a STEM culture in my classroom.

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Teacher Session 5: Collaborating and Communicating to Grow the STEM Culture

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Teacher Session 5: Collaborating and Communicating to Grow the STEM Culture

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I CAN use Discovery Education resources to collaborate and communicate with my fellow educators to further develop a STEM Culture.

We CAN identify actionable steps to grow the STEM Culture in our schools.

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Unit plan shared with Lori.

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Using thermometers to see changes in temperature.

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Using thermometers to see changes in temperature.

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Using sunscreen and sun sensitive paper to show how sun can hurt your skin.

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Using sunscreen and sun sensitive paper to show how sun can hurt your skin.

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Students made observations from media to construct an evidence-based account for patterns observed between parent and offspring lions.

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Students made observations from media to construct an evidence-based account for patterns observed between parent and offspring lions.

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Kindergarteners loved learning how to read thermometers!

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Kindergarteners loved learning how to read thermometers!

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I've gathered and organized STEM materials, making implementation of our STEM unit plans more feasible.

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I've gathered and organized STEM materials, making implementation of our STEM unit plans more feasible.

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Erin and I collaborated with the art teacher to have students create 3D relief maps of Nebraska during STEM class, which they painted and labeled during art class.

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Erin and I collaborated with the art teacher to have students create 3D relief maps of Nebraska during STEM class, which they painted and labeled during art class.

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Students built beaver dams then tested to see if water would get through.

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Student Activity: Analyze Like a Scientist
Students were given a short text to read and then had to answer the question, "What can be done to change a brick?" Students had to collaborate with turn/talk partners to critically think about this while keeping the story of The Three Little Pigs in mind as a reference that has been used to discuss different materials. When they were finished they shared out their awesome thinking and great conversation came from it.

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During STEM Ms. Morgan demonstrated how heat can change the property of an egg and that when you reverse that the egg does not change back to a liquid.

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Students evaluate and communicate information to identify changes in matter, some of which can be reversed and some that cannot. In STEM students melted butter then placed the container in cool water to see it solidify again. They identified how the butter changed (shape and color) during the process.

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More pictures building shelters to protect from the sun.

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More pictures building shelters to protect from the sun.

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I will be collaborating with Lori and Erin to develop and implement STEM activities to motivate students curiosity about the world around them. In quarter 2, students will be learning about and building Solar Ovens, and why these are important to people all around the world, even places in America. In quarter 3, students will be exploring Earthquakes, the impacts, and engineering for bridges and buildings. In quarter 4, students will be learning and exploring animal adaptations for survival.

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Students spent some time watching videos and reading about people around the world who are struggling to find ways to cook their food due to deforestation and poverty. It is the child's job to walk miles almost everyday to find enough wood for the fire to cook their food. Students were very empathetic learning how these families survive.
Students are finding patterns in latitude and temperature for specific areas.

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Students collaborated to design and build a structure that could withstand a simulated earthquake.

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Students used various methods to separate the components of a mixture.

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Students relied on knowledge gained during our lessons about forces and bridges to design, build, and test paper bridges, to measure how much weight they could hold.

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Students designed, built, and tested seismographs to gain a better understanding of how the instruments work.

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In this activity, students will measure and compare the positions and lengths of their own shadows created by the sun, then describe and study the shadow patterns made throughout the day.

1-ESS1-2 - Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to the time of year.

1-ESS1-1 - Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.

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Students have been reading, watching videos, and exploring plant needs, seed dispersal, and the relationships between plants and animals. After exploring different seeds, we planted flowers and grass seeds in STEM. We looked at the different parts of a plant and their jobs. We decided to incorporate "butterflies" and their life cycle into this Unit. We have been keeping a journal and recording our observations.

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While working on Activity 16 in concept 2.2 students got to separate the mixture. They had to sort out rocks, metal filings, and sand. They needed to choose the right tools that would be needed to separate those items.

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After finding and plotting data where Solar Ovens work best, students began to plan, discuss, and build their solar oven prototype. Since this was in the middle of winter, we had to wait to see real results. Students have tested these during recess (even in the snow). It was amazing to see how warm these prototypes actually got when it warmed up.