Monday, September 23, 2019

STEAM Ready

Today I'm thinking about our STEAM efforts--the many ways we'll forward science, tech, engineering, and art activities throughout the year.

What will we do?

Classroom STEAM Set-Up
There's work to do to update the classroom for STEAM study including reorganizing outdoor investigation tools, making space for our indoor gardens, purchasing a class composting container, and arranging science-related books. I'll devote the back corner of the classroom to this effort.

Guiding Questions
  • What is STEAM? 
  • What is the TEAM in STEAM? How can we be effective team members? Introduction to Team roles. 
  • What tools will we use to study science and how do we use and care for those tools?
  • What books can inform our STEAM study?
  • How can we be a green classroom?
Initial Focus and Projects
  • What is survival? What is important when it comes to survival?
  • Introduction to plant science and creating an indoor garden.
  • Introduction to decomposition and creating effective composting efforts and composters?
  • Introduction to water cycles, studying our local watershed, and making water filters.
  • Introduction to solar energy, creating solar ovens.
  • Introduction to the history of the land, and how studying the land gives us clues about that history. 

Long term projects and efforts
  • Climate change study and related projects 
There's lots to do to update our study from last year. We'll begin this week with a meeting with Drumlin Farm naturalists to study and plan for the year ahead. Onward.