As one engage in conversation with educators most will share
there’s a need to embed more STEM (science, technology, engineer and
mathematics) into intentional planned study theme topics but allowing students
the opportunities to explore materials in conjunction with posing critical
thinking skills. The Cedar Grove
Missionary Baptist Association (CGMBA) Outreach Ministry planned summer
enrichment program under the leadership of Mrs. Alice Robinson who was my first
grade teacher. She asked if I could do
some enriching activities so they would not lose their academic knowledge
gained during 2015-16 school year. From the
teachers I evaluated two (2) incorporated STEM activities the whole school year
with pre-k children; therefore, I was led to expose the summer campers to STEM.
The summer campers were rising pre-k to fifth graders (ages
4 – 10). I met once a week with two (2)
group sessions (younger pre-k thru 2nd and 3rd thru 5th)
for the planned STEM activities. Week one
the STEM activity was “Spaghetti and marshmallow tower”. The campers were given terms for this STEM
activity during the orientation week before.
The sessions started with STEM affirmation that initially
the campers recited after me but by Week 3 they recited statements in unison
(see picture). An outlined agenda (see
picture) was reviewed an altered as needed for age/grade groupings. It should be noted for the global awareness components
there were items “made in” was not located so the campers looked for the “distribution”. After this information was secured the
campers wrote name/drew picture and state/country as part of global
awareness. The post-it notes were placed
on the US map (see picture). We engaged
in conversation on the theme topic then the campers filled in the first two
columns of KWL chart.
During the team’s critical thinking process they created
their tallest spaghetti and marshmallow tower where open-ended questions were
posed encouraging higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Once completed, each teach selected a
photographer and reporter focusing on end product (see pictures). To conclude the STEM activity the campers
recorded the “L” column of KWL then summarized their experiences in their
composition notebook. It should be noted
for the younger campers, they drew pictures and dictation was recorded for
them.
If you have done this activity please share comments on your
experiences. Thanks.
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