What is STEM?
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Recent shifts in education have favored these subjects, primarily because we have a shortage of workforce in these particular areas, which is really quite sad for a number of reasons. These can be some of the most interesting things to study in school, provided they are taught in a fun, interesting, and hands-on fashion. They also lead to some of the best-paying technical jobs, too!
All of the labs within promote these 4 fields. You will find a strong emphasis on designing a project, testing it, measuring the results, and reflecting upon what worked and did not work. The projects are also labeled at the bottom with a series of categorical tags, so you can find similar projects to work on, allowing students to build upon prior knowledge gained in doing these projects! Of course, you can do them in any order you wish, but it can be fun to do a set of similar projects.
Since this is an educational volume, developed in my years teaching science in public schools, grading rubrics for each assignment are provided. There are some general suggestions and guidelines for each project, but it has deliberately been left without too much detail to allow the projects to be adapted to your classroom’s individual needs.
All of the labs within promote these 4 fields. You will find a strong emphasis on designing a project, testing it, measuring the results, and reflecting upon what worked and did not work. The projects are also labeled at the bottom with a series of categorical tags, so you can find similar projects to work on, allowing students to build upon prior knowledge gained in doing these projects! Of course, you can do them in any order you wish, but it can be fun to do a set of similar projects.
Since this is an educational volume, developed in my years teaching science in public schools, grading rubrics for each assignment are provided. There are some general suggestions and guidelines for each project, but it has deliberately been left without too much detail to allow the projects to be adapted to your classroom’s individual needs.
Errr... then what is STEAM?
STEAM is like STEM, but an additional focus area of Art has been added. The full acronym thus stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. This is a logical an easy shift to make, seeing how art and design are easily added to most projects. Science can be very expressive!
About the Author:
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Andrew Frinkle is an award-nominated teacher and writer with experience in America and overseas, as well as years developing educational materials for big name educational sites like Have Fun Teaching. He has taught PreK all the way up to adult classes, and has focused on ESOL/EFL techniques, as well as STEM Education. With two young children at home now, he's been developing more and more teaching strategies and books aimed at helping young learners.
Andrew Frinkle is the founder & owner of MediaStream Press LLC (www.MediaStreamPress.com), which maintains the educational websites: www.littlelearninglabs.com www.50STEMLabs.com www.common-core-assessments.com He also writes fantasy and science fiction novels under the pen name Velerion Damarke and writes/illustrates children's fiction as Andrew Frinkle. Find out more at: www.underspace.org www.AndrewFrinkle.com |
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Copyright & Usage:
All materials and designs contained within these volumes and this site are protected by copyright laws and are the property of Andrew Frinkle and MediaStream Press LLC (C) 2014, 2015. Site Template by Weebly. Book interior graphics are royalty-free graphics from openclipart.org.
The materials within may only be reproduced for your classroom or at home for educational use. These materials may not be resold for any reason. They may not be hosted on public databases or websites for any reason either.
The materials within may only be reproduced for your classroom or at home for educational use. These materials may not be resold for any reason. They may not be hosted on public databases or websites for any reason either.
