Arbor Day, STEM (STEAM) Style

It has been over 135 years since J. Sterling Morton founded Arbor Day, and his simple idea of setting aside a special day for tree planting is now more important than ever. The Arbor Day Foundation asks for your help in replanting our national forests, so they'll be there, for us, for future generations, and for those with whom we share our planet. (ArborDay.org) 

"Great. Sign me up," you say. But, how does this relate to STEM? What can I do in my classroom to contribute? Here are a few of my favorites:

Science

• Teach your students how to identify trees. Take your students on a walk around your campus and give them an opportunity to use tree identification charts to determine the species. 
• Plant a tree. By donating to Arbor Day, you will get free trees. Some local agencies also provide trees. Check your local forestry division and nurseries.

Technology

• Use GPS technology to map the locations of the newly-planted trees. Engage students in creating a virtual map of the trees.

Engineering

• Provide engineering activities for students. Examples include woodcarving, tree rounds, and wreaths.

Arts

• Write a play or have students act out a play about trees. Download the play devoted to Arbor Day. 
• Provide cooking demonstrations that involve tree-inspired foods, such as apples, walnuts, etc.
• Host a poster, poetry, musical contest. 

Mathematics

• Organize a "Big Tree" search at your school. Estimate how tall the trees are based on shadows cast. (lesson plan)
• Count tree rings on a tree stump.

Even more resources: The Arbor Day Foundation has done a GREAT job of providing curriculum materials for teachers. If you are interested in seeing more wonderful ideas, visit their Educational Resources page.

Arbor Day and History

Have you heard of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Project? Simply amazing. 

In commemoration of the (Cival War) sesquicentennial, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground is planting one tree in honor of each of the 620,000 soldiers that perished during the American Civil War.  Each tree is geo-tagged and electronically linked to the Fold3.com Honor Wall page of the soldier it is dedicated to. Through student assistance, JTHG is researching the stories of the fallen using primary source documents. (HallowedGround.org) 

Imagine this. Imagine students reading primary source documents to learn about the American Civil War. Imagine students then researching the stories of fallen soldiers and creating webpages devoted to them. Imagine geo-tags placed on freshly-planted trees; 620,000 trees, one for each fallen soldier. Imagine the power of taking a journey through hallowed ground. 

If you are interested in having your students participate in this historic service-learning project, go to the website. There are professional development opportunities for teachers. You can even request a map of the site (spans 4 states). "This is important."

Arbor Day and Shel Silverstein 

I heart Shel Silverstein.  His poems are short enough to keep attention for little readers.  They are silly.  They are whimsical.  I like his short stories too.

Have you read The Giving Tree?  Watch this short animation to get the gist of the story.

Reading this book will no doubt inspire young readers to plant their own giving trees.  In fact, if you plan ahead, you can put seeds into the pulp when making paper (see directions).  The paper can then be planted (along with the seeds).

Students can play along with the book with a Maker Space of wooden blocks to make the house, boat, etc.

Imagine having your students finish the animation with technology, either via tablet apps or desktop programs.

Bring in writing with ideas in this blog devoted to Shel Silverstein.

Summer Camps (for Students AND Teachers)

What are you doing this summer? More importantly, what are your kids doing this summer? Why not send them to camp?

Tonto Creek Camp is where we take our 4th graders every year to prepare them for the Arizona Science Assessment (AIMS). Read about our classes here. This summer, Tonto Creek Camp is hosting two unique camp experiences.

TontoCreekCamp.com 

SEED Camp For youth high school age who want to learn first-hand about business!  This is a creative outdoor gathering like no other.  SEED CAMP is where aspiring youth meet and forge bonds with successful local professionals and higher education experts!  Not your typical camp, this is a four days that will inspire, increase innovation and cultivate collaboration.  Each day CAMPers  take part in creative product development, beta testing and interactive workshops like; realizing your dream & conscious capitalism, hear from inspirational speakers and have fun facing outdoor challenges during educational outdoor activities such as: hiking, low-ropes leadership challenges.   

SEED Camp is an experience that will open your mind, connect you to an amazing community of influencers and show how spending four days in the woods unplugged can help you plant the seeds  of your dreams!

There are 3 camp sessions available from June 4th-8th. 

TontoCreekCamp.com 

Fresh Air Camp An unforgettable experience that connects youth to an amazing natural environment beyond their day-to-day life.  No air pollution, noise pollution or light pollution and no automation pollution.  Fresh Air SUMMER CAMP is brimming with summer spirit! Providing nature immersion and educational adventure for boys & girls, ages 10-13 years.   Our well trained, experienced field instructors guide campers in hands-on, STEM centered activities, leadership activities, experiential knowledge of plants, animals and more. 

Activities include: Ecology Hike, STEM Photography, STEM Classes, Orienteering & Wilderness Survival, Archery, Engineering, Low-ropes Course Challenges, Gaga Ball, Volleyball, Team Building Games, Star Viewing and of course S’mores ‘round the campfire. 

There are 2 camp sessions available from July 25th-31st.

As you can imagine, bunks fill up fast for these camps. 

Please don't let cost be a factor, as scholarships are available. 

For more information, click the links or 

email the camp at info@tontocreekcamp.org   844-411-CAMP(2267).

But what about you? How about STEM Boot Camp?

Arizona Department of Education is hosting a 2-day STEM Boot Camp for teachers of grades 3-6.  

"STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) should not be viewed as curriculum, but rather a way of organizing, integrating, and delivering instruction through an intentional interdisciplinary mindset. There is an increasing need to better understand STEM and provide for more rigorous, relevant and engaging interdisciplinary STEM teaching and learning opportunities. This 2-day 'boot camp' will energize and motivate teachers by building background, providing tools and resources with support to successfully implement integrated STEM connections. 

Through this engaging, hands-on 2-day STEM Boot Camp participants will:• Develop a foundation for understanding the interdisciplinary nature of STEM teaching and learning• Build their own STEM teaching toolkit based on research and best practices• Create a framework to develop and sustain a STEM learning environment" (ADE)

Participants will receive the book, STEM Lesson Essentials - Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, by authors JoAnne Vasquez, Michael Comer, and Cary Sneider.

Teachers will be eligible for 13 hours of PD credit. Registration is only $50 and that includes the book. While this "camp" is located in Arizona, it is not restricted to Arizona teachers. All are welcome. Please note this "camp" does not provide lodging/meals. 

"This 2-day 'boot camp' will energize and motivate teachers by building background, providing tools and resources with support to successfully implement integrated STEM connections," Jen Gutierrez, Arizona Department of Education.

There will be two sessions, June 1-2 and July 7-8. Currently, there are only 20 seats remaining. Register soon (teams encouraged) to ensure your spot at the table! Click here to register today.

Want a truly unique adventure? Live at the Biosphere2 this summer!

B2Science.org 

Yes, you read that correctly. You have the opportunity to live at the Biosphere2 (near Tucson) this summer. While there, you will be engaged in STEM professional development. The Summer Institute goes from June 8th-20th and is open to any Arizona-based active 1st-5th grade teacher. The cost of $100 covers your PD for the 13 days (including 130 hours credit), lodging, and all meals. Good meals. Seriously? How can you turn down this amazing opportunity? 

As you can imagine, spots are limited (I mean, there's only so much room in the Biosphere) and they fill fast! Talk it over with your family (because you won't see them for 13 days) and apply today. 

For more information, go directly to the site for Arizona Center for STEM Teachers. 

National Poetry Month, STEM Style

You might think that poetry and STEM are polar opposites.  But, you can integrate both of them.  

Read Poems about Science, Engineering, and Math

Draw inspiration from some accomplished science and nature poets using resources from your library. 

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Spectacular-Science/Lee-Bennett-Hopkins/9780689851209

http://start-engineering.com/kids-book/

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Marvelous-Math/Lee-Bennett-Hopkins/9780689844423 

For a list of great resources, check out BookListOnline. 

Write Science-based Haikus

ReadWriteThink.org has great resources to get you started. 
Don't worry if you aren't sure how to teach the crafting of poetry. 
ReadWriteThink has lesson plans, templates, examplars, etc. 

ReadWriteThink.org 

Create a Video Poem

 "Future engineers, it's our time and we got to own it.

If you've got the Force to go the Distance, than it's your moment."

Even if your students don't write/film their own video poem, analyzing this poem/song/spoken word video would be a great lesson. Did you catch all the engineering references?

Write a Science-inspired Parody

Recently, our students wrote parodies for their ROCK Concert. The concert focused on the Science concepts of landforms, weathering/erosion, and rock types. The students worked with the Music teacher (STEAM teacher) to replace the lyrics but keep the rhythm, meter, and rhyme schemes of the original songs. I am EXTREMELY proud of the creativity of the students. As you read some of the lyrics below, see if you can tell which song they parody.

"The lava glows red on the mountain tonight,
Not a footprint to be seen.
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I'm the lava queen.

...

Let it flow, let it flow.
Can't hold it back anymore.
Let it flow, let if flow.
Let it go from it's core.
I don't care where it's going to stay.
Let the lava rage on,
The heat never bothered me anyway."

"It's a hard rock life for us.
It's a hard rock life for us.
'Stead of treated, we get tricked.
'Stead of paychecks, we get picks.
It's a hard rock life.

Metamorphic rocks we break,
It's the hard rock life they make.
...
It's a hard rock life."


I would love to showcase your STEM-inspired poetry here. Please email me at STEAMingAheadWithSusan@gmail.com

Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student

National Parks and STEM; a perfect match.  Wait.  What?

When you think of national parks, you probably see the connection with Science first.  Depending on which park you imagined, you might be making links to weathering and erosion or volcanoes and other other landforms.  Math probably comes next as you imagine students calculating the height of granite cliffs or estimating the number of bison in a square mile.  But, you probably don't think of Technology when it comes to national parks.

If you think about it, national parks have always had technology.  For instance, I'm pretty sure you don't carry your water in wicker baskets and wear wool clothing head to toe.  You use the power of technology in moisture-wicking fabric and specially-designed water containers that fit on your back.

National Park Service has done a great job lately of incorporating technology into their programs.  I have seen QR codes on interpretive signs, interactive displays in ranger stations, and Q?rius exhibits at Smithsonian museums.  NPS has an online WebRanger program for children.  I have facilitated virtual field trips from Glacier Bay in Alaska to Grand Canyon in Arizona.  To celebrate their centennial, NPS will even host a social media event entitled "Find Your Park" (more information to be announced on April 2, 2015).

When one thinks of national parks, most think of the big Western parks; Yosemite, Arches, Hawai'i Volcanoes, Grand Canyon, etc. But the National Park Service also includes historical parks. Parks such as Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg.

Enter the "Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student" initiative.

Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student (TM) is a program created, developed and sponsored by The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership at the request of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), in partnership with Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and Harpers Ferry Middle School. 

Based on their hands-on experiences in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and analysis of primary source documents, approximately 70 Harpers Ferry Middle School students served as writers, editors, photographers, choreographers, set designers, videographers, and even public relations representatives to produce and promote six mini-documentaries, depicting their understanding of the famous John Brown Raid in Harpers Ferry, which set-off fighting in the American Civil War. (NPS) 

Common Core has brought the use of primary sources to the forefront of our instruction.  And STEM education along with 21st Century Skills has brought educational technology into focus. All these initiatives and programs excite the STEM teacher in me, but they don't really prompt students to create their own impression of the park by using technology.  Today's students are not content to be mere consumers of technology, but creators of it as well. Service Learning Projects, like the Harper's Ferry project, bring these worlds together.  Like the student says on the video, "With vodcast, I can learn what they were feeling."

So, I ask you, which historical sites do you have near your school?  What Service Learning Projects can your students embark on to not only produce videos for students far away, but also as a way to express their understanding of the importance of those events?  It's about making those connections.  With the past and with the future (students).

For more information on how you can use National Park Service resources in your classroom, read the series here: National Parks, Treasures for Teachers.

Every Kid in a Park

Yesterday, President Obama announced a new initiative that will put 4th graders and their families in national parks.



Fourth graders and their families will have free access to all national parks and federal lands for the entire 2015-2016 school year.  The initiative is intended to get students outside and "put down the smartphones".  The initiative is intended to continue for 12 years, so all the incoming 4th graders will be able to experience the parks for the next 12 years. 

At a time when congress is debating the re-authorization of "No Child Left Behind", we are entering a new era of No Child Left Inside.  Yes, it is important to teach our children to read and do math, but does it always need to be inside?  I have championed "No Child Left Inside" for the last 10 years.  I looked at my classroom as our base camp.  We came together there, set our purpose, gathered resources, and then set outside.

For Math, we went on Math Walks; looking for shapes on the playground.  Suddenly the bars on the monkey bars are now transformed into parallel lines!  That seam in the sidewalk is magically a perpendicular line!  With a simple line drawn with chalk, that line in the sidewalk became examples of acute angles or obtuse angles.  A walking field trip to the local grocery store was a Math lesson, as the students had to complete a PBL assignment while there.  

Although we didn't read as much I would have liked outside, our adventures always sparked new interests in informational texts when we returned to base camp the classroom.  I never had to coerce my students to read.  Students were so much more animated when reading about worms, dirt, wildfires, etc. after a trip outside.

National Park Service celebrates their 100th anniversary in 2016.  To help celebrate, I have compiled a list of resources for teachers and parents.  My National Parks: Treasure for Teachers series offers a myriad of resources and opportunities for teachers and classrooms.

Meet Up in Columbus (with Challenge)

February is Black History Month.  What better way to wrap up the month than a STEM Expo, focused on diversity outreach for education.


On February 28, 2015, Desmon Louis Smith (DLS) Education and STEM Services will host the “Education to Innovation STEM Conference and Expo”.  The Education to Innovation STEM Conference and Expo strives to bring awareness and take on President Obama’s initiative for the United States to “move from the middle to the top of the pack” in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The event was created to bring more awareness of STEM initiatives and programming to underrepresented students, teachers and parents. 

http://www.dlseducationservices.org/

“Our mission is to develop young men and women with active creative minds to explore the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We seek to help by providing educational tools that will inspire them to succeed,” said LaVonia Smith, DLS Education and STEM Services Founder.

About The STEM Expo and Virtual Career Fair

Saturday, February 28, 2015, educators, and corporate leaders, will gather together for a day of knowledge and information on STEM.

There will be:

• Hands-on demonstrations
• Raffles and other prizes
• Colleges and educational organizations
• STEM related employers 
• Special Guest Speakers

I have the distinct honor of being one of the guest speakers and trainers.

Guest Speaker

During the expo, I will speak with parents and students regarding STEM and Literacy.  I will share real-world examples of how to integrate Literacy (Reading and Writing) into a STEM unit.  Attendees will participate in challenges based on popular Young Adult novels.  It is this hands-on approach to STEM that has increased our own library circulation rate by 272%.  

Trainer

Immediately following the expo, I will have a special session for educators.  Teacher’s Continuing Education Units (CEU) are available based on local school district’s policy.

Want to engage your learners in STEM, but not sure how? This training will give you the resources and confidence to write your own integrated STEM lessons. We will view example STEM lessons from your grade level. With the use of templates and rubrics, you will walk out of this session with a STEM lesson that integrates Common Core Math, Ohio's New Science Standards, and the national technology standards to prepare your students for PARCC. Bring a cohort of teachers and design your STEM lessons together!

Challenge

wikipedia images

Have you heard of life-hacks?   Urban dictionary defines a life-hack as 

"A tool or technique that makes some aspect of one's life easier or more efficient."

It's quite possible that George Washington Carver was the first life-hacker, with over 300 uses for the common peanut.  

My challenge to you is to hack a paperclip.  How many different uses can you design for the common paperclip?  10?  20?  More?  

I will have a special prize for any attendees who show me their paperclip hacks in my speaking and/or training sessions.  


#STEMConExpoOhio

Finals Week in a STEM School: Part 2

A few weeks ago, I shared how we do finals at our school.  You can read about it here.

We also made STEM tubs.  STEM tubs?!  What's that?  I'm so glad you asked.

A STEM tub is a tub of any size (we used shoe boxes) filled with spare parts.  Students will use the random parts to engineer something.

For our STEM tubs, we filled them with:

• pipecleaners
• homemade play-dough
• dried pasta
• shredded paper
• googly eyes
• etc.

STEM tubs laid out, ready to go

The students also had access to the following materials:

• scissors
• glue sticks
• rulers
• tissue paper
• their STEM journal
• iPads to document the process
• their rubric
• construction paper

Since we did the STEM tubs with our 3rd grade STEM class, the students were tasked with making a life cycle of an animal.  The students had been studying life cycles of animals and had diagrammed several in their STEM journals.  

Step 1: Rubric

It all starts with the rubric.  The classroom teacher and myself sat down and planned backwards.  We created the rubric well before this point.  We had a class discussion about rubrics and how they are used to grade projects.

Step 2: Review

I have always been a proponent of open-note assessments.  The act of recording the information helps learners retain it.  Plus, it encourages good note-taking by allowing them to look back during their finals.  The students knew they were going to make 3D models of life cycles, but they didn't know what would be in their STEM tubs.  After they opened the tubs and surveyed the contents, they reviewed their notes to see which life cycle would fit best with the materials they were given.

Step 3: Measure

 Measure twice, cut once.  Teachers can lecture all day long about lining up their objects with the edge of the ruler, but it won't mean a thing until students have a valid reason to make careful measurements.  An unintended consequence of having rulers on hand was that we saw students measuring pipe cleaners and calculating length if they were cut in half.

Step 4: Get Creative!

Some students decided to stick with the basic materials and create their own life cycles.  Construction paper became exoskeletons.  Shredded paper became jointed legs.  Homemade play-dough became eggs and heads and you name it!

Data

I am not a fan of multiple choice assessments, but they have their uses.  One is quick data, especially pre and post data.  A few months ago, I gave a pre-test to this class of 3rd graders.  After the STEM tubs, I gave them a post-test.  I am pleased to announce that they increased from 45.8% to 79.8%!

Finals Week in a STEM School: Part 1