Stem Education

Why may engineering not interest children?

Because engineering is a profession that is pursued in college, it seldom occurs to teachers to connect children activities to real-life engineering jobs.

Examples of Stimulating Thinking

• "How can you make the wheel go slowly?" This can focus the children's attention on force. They develop the desire to experiment and explore.

Examples of Engineering

• A walk around the neighborhood might stimulate children to incorporate unique features into their own block designs. • A child tries to create a building in the sand table, but it keeps falling down. • This is an opportunity to discuss the different characteristics of building materials.

Components of STEM

• Adult support is critical if young children are to maximize their foundational learning. • When an adult is present they can stimulate thinking.

Intention Teaching

• Children learn more effectively when teachers incorporate developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) when implementing activities in the STEM disciplines. . • They plan curriculum and environment with specific outcomes and children in mind. • They remain alert for any teachable moments. • They also know what individual children understand based on the child's development.

Examples of Encouraging Inquiry

• Children may decide that all the large animals should go into one field, and all the smaller animals into another field. • Once this accomplished, children may want to make comparisons. • Are there more large animals than there are small animals? • Can the animals be arranged largest to smallest? • These questions involve important mathematical concepts, and children's inquiry drivers their formation of these mathematical relationships.

Effective Teaching Practices

1. Intentional Teaching 2. Teaching for Understanding 3. Encouraging Inquiry 4. Real Word Contexts

Content Standards in Education: Science

1. Life Science 2. Physical Science 3.Earth and Space Science

Content Standards in Education: Math

1. Numbers and Operations 2. Algebra 3. Geometry 4. Measurement 5. Data Analysis and Probability

Components of Scientific Inquiry

1. Predicting 2. Observing 3. Experimenting 4. Comparing 5. Measuring 6. Inferring 7. Communicating

STEM in Outdoor Areas

Outdoor areas provide opportunities for STEM explorations that are not available in the classroom

Teachers may feel uncomfortable with math, so they often do not engage in __________

Problem solving and math discussions

STEM Education in the United States

STEM education has become a focus of attention in the United States for Several Reasons 1. U.S. students continue to trail their peers in many developed countries in science and math 2. Concern that the U.S. is not adequately developing students in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math 3. STEM education has been linked to leadership in the world and to economic growth

STEM refers to NSF's education-related program in the discipline of _______

Science Technology Engineering Math

The acronym STEM originated with _______

The National Science Foundation

People have been inventing and using tools for millennia _______

We continue to use these simple devices in our everyday life.

STEM Field Trips

• Field trips provide preschool and kindergarten children with the opportunity to visit settings they may not typically experience. • Some field trips may not initially appear to be STEM oriented, such as a walk around the neighborhood. • Teachers can encourage closer scientific investigation, such as observing and recording the plants and animals that are a part of the community.

Designing a STEM Curriculum

• Integrated STEM curriculum often revolves around scientific inquiry. • Encourages children to ask questions, conduct explorations, and form inferences in much the same manner as scientists.

STEM in Outdoor Areas: Examples

• Investigate shadows, wind, and bubbles. • Observe insects, bugs, and neighborhood animals. • Explore simple machines on a larger scale. • Natural light • Weather cycles

Examples of Adult Support

• Most preschool classrooms incorporate water wheels in the sensory table. • Children love watching the wheels spin as water is added. • Yet, children won't consider the relationship between the water and the movement.

Creating STEM Learning Centers

• Science learning centers are a component of many preschool and kindergarten classrooms. • Effective teachers redesign and change these centers regularly. • Build on the interests of the children. • To coordinate with other aspects of the curriculum. • To introduce materials related to a particular content standard. • Centers can be strengthened by turning them into STEM learning centers.

Quick Stem Activities

• Teachers feel pressured to fit so many requirements into the day. • Many opportunities for learning in the STEM disciplines go unaddressed each day. • Many of these involve daily activities that can be "tweaked". • These can provide a rich experience in science and mathematics.

Encouraging Inquiry

• The National Science Education Standards, emphasize that inquiry into questions generated by students should be the focus of science teaching. • This does not mean that the teacher never introduces a topic for study. • Inquiry should be a guiding force in learning mathematics. • As children interact with materials, they form relationships, such as grouping objects into various categories.

Teaching for Understanding

• The Teaching Principle: emphasizes that mathematics teachers must understand what students know, what students need to know, and how to support students in their learning. • Regardless to age, students use their prior knowledge and experience to conduct new knowledge.

Integrated Curriculum

• The concept of integrated curriculum is familiar to many educators. • Teachers may -- • Develop math games to go with a favorite children's book • Plan the dramatic play and block areas in preparation for an upcoming field trip. • Introduce natural materials in the art area to coordinate with the seasons. • This integration of curricular materials is supported by professional teaching organizations • National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

When Should STEM education Begin?

• The foundation of STEM begins in a child's early years. • Recently, there has been a surge of interest in early childhood mathematics. • Researchers attest to the importance of number sense for achievement in school mathematics. • Understanding of geometry and measurements is also view as important and relevant. • There is a lack of research on science education in early childhood education.

Technology Example

• Tools that are used in the kitchen, such as apple slicers and peelers, hand-held juicers, and mortar and pestles, are applications of simple machines and technology. • Experimentation with simple machines, such as pulleys, inclines, and wedges, can greatly expand children's understanding of physics.

Math Example

• Wendy and Jason are eating grapes during snack time. Jason thinks Wendy has more than him. The teacher responds, "I gave you each five, you both have the same amount." This shuts down conversation and mathematical thinking. • The teacher should ask why Jason might think that Wendy has more grapes than he does. • The teacher should also ask how they can figure out who has more or if they have the same amount. • One-to one correspondence fashion or counting them out.

Planning STEM Learning Centers

• When planning, teachers can start with a science or mathematical topic and then integrate goals and materials from one or more of the other STEM disciplines. • Location is very important when planning a STEM learning center. • Positioning the STEM center around a window may be advantageous since some require natural light • The STEM center should be spacious. • Should offer enough space for several children to use. • Interaction between students allows the children to share ideas and model learning strategies. COMMUNICATION IS AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT!

Proving Real-World Contexts

• Young children learn best when activities are relevant to their lives. • In science, it is particularly important that young children have real materials to explore. • Experiences with living plants and animals can spur discussions about the differences between real and pretend.

Some field trips might already have a science component.

• Zoo • Farm • Park