STEM Skills Challenge- Newspaper Table

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been sharing the importance of teaching STEM skills and weaving them through your curriculum.  They teach our students how to be persistent problem solvers, how to deepen 21st century skills and how to become leading contenders in the workforce.

Forbes Magazine researched the 10 most critical skills that employers are looking for in candidates and found that the majority of these critical skills are STEM skills. The top three skills? Critical Thinking, Complex Problem Solving, and Judgement and Decision Making.

This week, students will get to practice all three of those skills as they work on this week's Skills Challenge.  Students will work with a team to build a sturdy table out of nothing more than newspaper and masking tape that will hold the most weight.  Much like the real world, teams will be challenged to use only the resources provided and work within design and time requirements.  May the best team of designers win!

STEM Skills Challenge Handout: Newspaper Table

STEM Skills Challenge- Gumdrop Bridge

Employers today are looking for students who have learned how to think and how to problem-solve.  With the adoption of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), we are getting closer to making that a reality, but so many states and districts are still focused on standardized testing (which- surprise-  did not make the list of qualities that employers are looking for in qualified candidates.)

This series focuses on those skills as well as the other "soft-skills" that aren't necessarily spelled our in the curriculum, but make students well-rounded problem solvers.

This week's challenge is the Gumdrop Bridge.  In  this challenge, students work in teams to design and build a bridge that will span 10 inches.  Sounds like a pretty easy challenge, but as students start experimenting with their materials of gum drops and toothpicks, they will find that there is more there than beats the eye.

This fun little challenge encourages students to work on team building, collaboration and communication skills- more of those soft skills- that help students become successful in a workplace environment.

STEM Skills Challenge Handout: Gumdrop Bridge

STEM Skills Challenge Series

What if STEM stood for something different? As you know, the actual acronym stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, but aside from content, the concept encompasses many more essential skills like: problem solving, critical thinking, team-building, self-esteem, self-motivation and more.

At a recent symposium in the Seattle area, business leaders were surveyed regarding the skills, attitudes, attributes, and aspirations that they feel are the most important to the success of students in the future. Among the results?

• Critical thinking, learning, and analytical problem solving
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Self-direction and self-awareness
• Technical skills and computer literacy
• Fundamentals of education including math, science, and English
• Creativity
• Cultural competence and global awareness
• Emotional intelligence

This series on STEM Skills Challenges will harness the power of STEM challenges and focus on these essential success skills that our students need to be effective in the STEM workforce.

STEM Essentials- Developing Effective STEM Units

In this series we have learned how to plan and develop an effective STEM unit.  Planning a unit like this is very time-consuming if done right, but the outcomes and student progress will be well worth the effort!

Here are the basic steps in the process:

• Develop a Plan for your STEM unit
• Craft Different Types of Assessments for before, during and after your project
• Create a Rubric (at least one!) for assessing students throughout the project and at the conclusion of it
• Use the Engineering Design Process to plan the remaining lessons that fit with your curriculum objectives
• Communicate Results through written reports as well as oral presentations
• Redesign and Debrief to assess student understanding and any misconceptions

Each step contains a basic explanation...and a free handout to help you plan your own effective STEM unit!

Book Trailers for Readers

Book Trailers for Readers is an excellent site for those who are looking to revamp the tired book report.  This site contains examples, tutorials, and even handouts for how to create these projects in your own classroom. Students can use it to find a good book to read or use the examples to create their own book trailers.  Or, integrate some other tools like the Flip Video camera and Prezi to create a spectacular multimedia project!

STEM Essentials- Redesigning and Debriefing

In this series, we're learning how to plan a proper STEM unit.  If you've been following along, you'll note that there are many moving parts!  So far, we have discussed how to develop a plan, craft different types of assessments, create a rubric, use the Engineering Design Process to plan the remaining lessons, and how to communicate results.

The last two steps that we'll talk about is Redesigning and Debriefing.  These are separate steps focusing on different goals, but because they share some common elements and they both NEED to take place at the end of the unit, we'll talk about them together.

Redesigning
After students have communicated their results and shared them with the class, it's important for students to have time to redesign.  This doesn't need to be a whole unit withing itself, but they should at least have an hour or so to work on improvements to their design.  This allows for a couple of things.  It allows:

• Students to process what other teams have shared and leverage that new information into the redesign of their own product.  
• Any team that was unsuccessful to implement a workable solution based on new information shared (and thus generate some success)
• Students a chance to take some risks that they wouldn't have taken prior to presenting the project to the class.  They can push the envelope without any ramifications.  (This is where some GREAT learning can take place.)

And as a side benefit, giving students the opportunity to redesign their products shows the importance of collaboration and communication amongst the different teams (and also usually sparks more creativity!)

Debriefing
Debriefing shares some of these same elements, but it is not the same.  Debriefing takes place at the end of the project and allows the teacher to pull everyone together to talk turkey.  This is an opportunity for students to:

• Share any new information that they have learned and discuss how it relates to the project
• Ask clarifying questions that may help them further their learning or connect the dots
• Discuss possible next steps or extensions of the project

This is an opportunity for teachers to:

• Review key findings and objectives for the project
• Clarify any misunderstandings that still may exist
• Further tie the learning to real-life (I like to talk about STEM careers that would contribute to a project like the one just completed)

As an aside, the debriefing can provide the teacher with key information such as insight on how to make the project better the next time and informal assessment based on discussion.

STEM Essentials Handout: Debriefing Strategies

STEM Essentials- Communicating Results

In working to create a comprehensive STEM unit plan, we've talked about how to develop a plan, craft different types of assessments, create a rubric, and use the Engineering Design Process to plan the remaining lessons. 

One of the last components to put in place is a mechanism for students to communicate their findings. It's important for students to investigate and record their daily notes and data as well as create formal reports of their discoveries.

For this component, there are very many options.  Teachers use a high-tech mechanism and set up a Moodle Site or a Wikispaces workspace for students that will allow them to develop and refine 21st century skills. Teachers can also use a low-tech mechanism and ask students to communicate their results through Science Notebooks (aka paper) that will allows students to focus more in effective communication. Because of the many options available, the teacher should choose the best method of delivery, factoring in the age-appropriate skill level of students and the curriculum/ skills that will be the main focus of the project.

In addition to written communication, it's a good idea to  have an oral component like a presentation, interview, or skit as well.  Combining written and oral reporting helps students to enhance their communication skills and make them more relevant as presenting and public speaking are important skills students need when preparing for the workforce.

STEM Essentials Handout: Science Notebook

STEM Essentials- Decision Making

In this series, we've been investigating how to best plan a STEM unit.  We have developed a plan, crafted different types of assessments, created a rubric, and used the Engineering Design Process in planning the remainder of the lessons.

We've also discussed some of the non-linear steps that will help put some structure into your STEM project  like creating and using STEM Role Cards and teaching students how to develop great ideas.

After students generate a list of possible ideas, how should they determine which one is the best one to use?  Most student groups are likely to take a vote, flip a coin, or even come to a deadlock if no one wants to budge from their own idea.  Arming students with best-practice ways to make decisions is key and will help them with the project at hand as well as with life decisions.

One strategy that students can use to help make decisions is is simple Pro/Con Chart.  Requiring students to write down pros and cons will help them to clarify their idea more fully and communicate their data through writing.

Another great strategy is a Decision Matrix.  In this model, students are asked to think through their top ideas by answering key questions that will help them to determine which idea is the best solution.

STEM Essentials Handout: Decision Making Pro/Con Chart, Decision Matrix

STEM Essentials- Developing (Great) Ideas

So far, we developed a plan and thought about types of assessments.  We've also create a rubric and used the Engineering Design Process to plan the remainder of lessons. We've also looked at creating STEM Role Cards to help students to use their time wisely.

When we plan a STEM unit, there are a lot of steps that are part of a linear progression with each step building on the one before.  Then, there are other elements (like the Role Cards) that are related and necessary, but don't seem to fit into a linear progression.  This week, we'll talk about another non-linear component- how to facilitate students' development of ideas.

When students work together, they almost always have difficulty brainstorming.  It's not enough to tell students to "just go think up good ideas".  The younger the student, the more difficulty they have working in this "white space".  As such, it helps to share brainstorming strategies to help create a sort of process for them to follow.

Some group brainstorming strategies include:

Stepladder Approach- Students generate ideas individually, then partner up within their team to discuss and add more ideas.  Finally, all members of the group work together to share their ideas and generate more.

SCAMPER- Once students have come up with one idea (and might have gotten stuck), using the SCAMPER strategy will help generate others.  With each letter standing for a way to generate ideas, students can work to find other solutions. (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Rearrange)

Concept Map- Most students are familiar with concept maps and have used them before. They take many different forms and can be as simple as a blank piece of paper to something more elaborate printed on a worksheet.  In any case, it's important to allow students to each write their ideas onto the worksheet or chart paper and build on other ideas they are hearing.

There is no right way to brainstorm, but by providing some strategies and soliciting "Brainstorming Rules" from students to establish a sense of fairness and buy-in, the process will flow smoothly and encourage  ideas.

STEM Essentials Handout: STEM Brainstorming Worksheet

STEM Essentials- The Engineering Design Process

On the road to planning an effective STEM unit, we have:

• Sketched out a plan defining the topic, choosing the applicable standards, and forming the challenge
• Created assessments, both formative and summative
• Developed a rubric as an end-of-project assessment
• Provided STEM Role Cards to help students divide the work that will be done

 Now, it is time to plan the individual lessons that will make up our STEM unit.  In other words, we want to find a way for students to learn pieces of the selected curriculum standards that, when put together, will assist them in completing the challenge. 

A great way to do this is to use the Engineering Design Process as you plan:

1.  Identify the Problem- The problem should be clearly identified in your challenge statement when you began drafting your plan.

2.  Identify Criteria and Constraints- This can take place when introducing the STEM project or it can be presented through lessons that allows students to use trial and error.  After students have had a chance to explore, bring the class back together and determine, together, the criteria and constraints that should be used for the remainder of the project.

3.  Brainstorm Possible Solutions- As students brainstorm their ideas, present a lesson or two that will teach some basics of your curriculum and help students come up with different ideas for their brainstorming web.

4.  Select and Idea/Strategy- Once teams have selected their strategies, present a lesson or two that will teach more advanced concepts of your curriculum to help students further design and improve their solutions.

5.  Build a Model or Prototype- When it is time for students to begin building their products, lessons can be introduced to help students design a test for their prototype if applicable, focusing on key components of your curriculum.  

6.  Refine and Improve- After students have built their models, some additional lessons can be shared involving the more advanced elements.  Students can then decide to work them into their refined design if applicable.

STEM Essentials Handout: The Engineering Design Process

Mars Rover Celebration Curriculum

Our curriculum team has just wrapped up this year's portion of the Mars Rover Celebration Curriculum.  We chose to write the tough lessons first and next year we'll revise the lessons using teacher feedback, do a little polishing (because as we tell our students- you can always improve your writing and communication, right?) and tackle the remaining lesson plans.  Since Curiosity is now safely on Mars and getting ready to do some exploring, I suspect we'll have a lot of teachers exploring this curriculum this upcoming school year.  All of the completed lessons to date are located here.  You'll notice two different sets- one set for grades 3-5 and one set for grades 6-8.  For the most part, we tried to be as consistent as possible in presenting concepts in an inquiry-based fashion, but sometimes needed to deviate from that plan to solidify some skills and concepts.  If you use this curriculum or a portion of it in your classroom, drop me a note and let me know.  I'd love to hear your feedback!

STEM Essentials- Role Cards

 In designing a STEM unit, we have developed a plan complete with standards and a challenge.  Next, we have examined different types of assessments to incorporate into the unit and have explored how to create a rubric for the end-of-project summative assessment.

As we move through the process of designing and developing a STEM unit, we need to consider a framework that students will use to help keep some structure in the classroom, but also to give them the freedom to use their inquiry strategies.

One way to do that is to use Role Cards.  When teaching a STEM unit, students are generally placed in teams of 4 or 5.  Defining a role for each student within a team is key to making sure that each student knows his/her responsibilities.  These roles also help students work through their challenge and keep them progressing in a forward direction without arguing about who should be in charge of what.  (So that each student gets to experience each role and to keep things fair, I tend to have them rotate roles each week or couple of days depending on the length of the project.)

I designed two set of Role Cards that I use with students.  The first set can be used for just about any group work and contains roles that are pretty general and could cover a multitude of different disciplines and/or projects.  The roles I use for this are: Recorder, Supply Manager, Coach, Facilitator, and Data Manager.  Each card states the title, defines the role and provides questions that that student may consider about their roles within the group.

When conducting a STEM unit, I use a different set of cards that are better suited to inquiry-based strategies.  The roles I use for this are: Data Analyst, Project Manager, Investigator, Engineer, and Forecaster.  Again, each card states the title, defines the role and provides questions that that students should be asking the group (and themselves).

No matter which set of cards I choose for project, I photocopy them on cardstock and laminate them so that students can actively use them each day.

STEM Essentials Handout: STEM Role Cards

STEM Essentials- Creating Rubrics

When developing a STEM unit, it's important to put a lot of time into the planning of the unit so that students will have the structure (although sometimes it is unseen) to be successful and so that you can spend your time working with students and facilitating student progress.

Now that you have a plan and have thought about the different kinds of assessments that will take place throughout the unit, it is time to consider how you will evaluate the product that students will produce (keeping in mind that your product could take the form of a presentation, portfolio, an actual product, etc.).  The rubric will help you, as the teacher, identify what skills, knowledge and outcome you are looking for and will also outline for students how to be successful.

There are many different ways to write a rubric.  The simplest is to establish a list of target statements that address key facets of the product and relevant curriculum standards.  This rubric can also include criteria like teamwork and performance (aka time on task). 

Next, determine your scale. For younger students, sometimes the scale is in words rather than numbers.  For example: Superior, Accomplished Capable, Developing.  For older students, a scale of 1-4 or 1-5 is generally used with the highest number representing the most accomplished. 

(If you would like your rubric to be more specific, select your criteria and write descriptors for each one. Descriptors should each be one "step" apart and should represent gradations of quality for each criteria.  Be thoughtful when writing your rubric to make sure that it represents a successful project and reflects your selected standards.)

Once you have created your rubric, you will want to present it to your students after you introduce the challenge.  If possible, show both good and bad examples to model for students how to assess these examples using the rubric.  This will teach students how to use a rubric and also how to self-assess their projects in different stages.

STEM Essentials Handout: STEM Project Rubric

STEM Teacher Workshop in Seattle on August 7

UPDATE: We're excited to announce that this project has been adopted as a trial event for Science Olympiad!

If you haven't signed up yet, you're missing out!  On August 7, The Pacific Northwest AIAA is hosting a teacher workshop to share one of their STEM curriculum modules with teachers.  This standards-based, hands-on curriculum is designed for students in grades 6-12.

 During this workshop,  teachers will learn how to design, build and fly their own electric airplanes that will carry the most cargo.  Then take your airplanes and curriculum back to your classrooms to inspire and engage students. Teach the curriculum to your students, then join us for our capstone event in the spring at the Museum of Flight to compete with students from other schools and districts.

If you are a formal or informal teacher, administrator, or outreach professional in the Seattle area, join us for a fun day of engineering and aerospace!   Registration includes the workshop for one adult participant, a printed copy of the curriculum, lunch and materials to build  one airplane.  For more information, visit the PNW AIAA information page.  Or, register here.

 Hope to see you there!

STEM Essentials Series

When beginning to implement STEM projects in your classroom, it can be very overwhelming.  Where do I start?  What do I need?  What am I missing?

STEM projects generally take a good deal of planning on the teacher's part and are generally complex by nature.  There are many components that need to be developed and in place prior to students' starting their inquiry.

Whether you have found a great resource from a reputable organization or are creating the materials yourself from scratch, there are some STEM Essentials that you will need in order to plan, execute and assess an effective STEM project.   This series will focus on those STEM essentials that will help make your project organized, engaging and successful!

The Difference between "Doing Projects" and Project Based Learning

When I talk to teachers and staff about STEM and what it is or isn't, we often come around to how it is similar and different to Project-Based Learning.  STEM, at its very core, is Project-Based Learning (PBL) and connecting these dots helps to demystify what STEM education is and how to teach it. 

Last week, I ran across this very helpful chart from FriEd Technology that differentiates "doing projects" with students from PBL...and these points hold true for STEM education as well.   Although this is not the full picture of STEM education, it helps to quickly clarify and set expectations for both student and teacher expectations.

Mars Rover Celebration Update

I have been working with the University of Houston to create a curriculum unit based around the Mars Rover Curiosity.   We're working on polishing the last of the lessons and getting them posted on the UH Mars Rover Celebration web site.

The Mars Rover Celebration curriculum is an all-encompassing six week unit for students in grades 3-8 that can be used in the classroom or in informal education settings.  Throughout the unit, students learn about the solar system, focusing on Mars.  Using the information they have learned, students work collaboratively in teams of 4-5 to design their own mission to Mars and build their own rover (from found and low-cost objects).   Each lesson is aligned to National Standards (as well as the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and contains an Essential Question, Vocabulary Cards, and a Science Notebook for student use.  There are also key literacy elements woven through the unit to make it a STEAM unit rather than a STEM unit.

Since this amazing project is funded by a NASA grant, the cost for using this curriculum unit with students is...FREE.  And, if you are in the great state of Texas, you can bring your students and their rovers to participate in the Mars Rover Celebration capstone event where students can show off their work and meet other students from around the state!

By the end of the summer, all 30 lessons (15 for grades 3-5 and 15 for grades 6-8) and all of their lesson components will be posted on the UH Mars Rover Celebration site.  Check them out and use them in the fall to get your students re-engaged in learning!

The Four C's in STEM: Creativity with PowToon

In continuing to examine tools that exercise students' creativity in STEM, another great online tool that comes to mind is PowToon.

PowToon is an online  service that allows students to create animated videos complete with voice overs. With an environment similar to PowerPoint, students can:

• construct slides or animated movies (up to 30 minutes long)
• add graphics from the 8 included libraries (more available with the pay account)
• add music or a voice track
• search and insert images from the internet from within the application
•  upload your own images
• export products to YouTube or your desktop or embed it in your site

Using a tool like this helps students stay engaged, enhance their creativity and  pull together a vision for the project at hand.

Starfish Education is not affiliated with these companies or organizations and is not compensated in any way for posting about their company or online tools.

Introducing The Brown Bag STEM Challenge

One of the biggest challenges in STEM education is finding good challenges for students.  These challenges should:

Teach or refine at least one STEM concept
STEM concepts could be as broad as learning about force and motion or as specific as "Identify and understand technologies needed to develop solutions to problems or construct answers to complex questions".  Many states don't have STEM Standards like Maryland, but guidance can still be found through your state's curriculum or the CCSS.

Be inexpensive and contain easy-to-find supplies
STEM lessons don't need to cost an arm and a leg to be effective.  Lessons should use a variety of different supplies to spark creativity and problem solving and should be inexpensive to procure and easy to find.

Take no more than 90 minutes (2 class periods or one block)
It's okay to do shorter projects especially if you are just getting used to PBL or STEM.  Sometimes when STEM projects carry on too long, students can lose motivation and focus. Start with shorter projects to get your students used to working collaboratively, and using inquiry-based learning strategies. Even if you are comfortable teaching STEM lessons, short projects can be great for learning group dynamics, the beginning of the year, or to refine or review skills.

...And be simple enough to fit in a brown bag!
BUT don't mistake simple as being ineffective. Teaching simple projects can help you learn a lot about your students and help you to be more comfortable teaching STEM.  If you're already comfortable teaching STEM, then you can use these little projects to get some baseline assessments on students and stretch your facilitation skills and teaching strategies.

Stay tuned for some Brown Bag Challenges to use in your classroom!

6 Ways to Strengthen Rigor in Your STEM Classroom

In recapping this series on Strengthening Rigor in STEM, we've talked about how to define rigor in the classroom.   We've discussed that rigor is not making the work harder or assigning more problems.

We've also outlined the basics on tools such as the Rigor/Relevance Framework that we can use to guide our planning and instruction to establish and maintain rigor in the classroom.

This list generated by this series is by no means exhaustive, but is a tangible list of strategies you can use to begin to building rigor into your classroom:

• Interactive Notebooks
• The Art of Questioning
• Student Portfolios
• Rubrics
• PBL Elements
• Student Menus

By using or reintroducing these strategies into your classroom,  students can begin to stretch their thinking and begin to perform in ways that will help them to grow them academically as well as help them achieve mastery and beyond.