Tiffany Davis
PK-5 Digital Learning Coach
Ashburnham Westminster Regional Schools
I love designing interdisciplinary projects that use ELA, technology, and the arts to provide access points for students who don’t feel successful in traditional math or science class.
Sara Donovan
7th Grade Science Teacher
Canton Public Schools
The STEM Educator Certificate program taught me how to integrate the important components of high quality STEM education into engaging learning experiences for students. This program challenged me to deeply explore and reflect on STEM education and provided me the support to grow professionally.
Vanessa Haerle
STEM Teacher
Sutton Middle School
STEM education provides exciting opportunities for students to work together, communicate, and problem solve to better understand the world around them. It is an honor to help build lessons for the “I am STEM” project and to provide these learning opportunities for teachers and students.
Design a Bridge
By Vanessa Haerle
Subject: Tech/Eng, Math
Grade Level: 7
Standards: MA STE, Math & ELA (Common Core)
You are designing a bridge as an overpass over highway 146 (near Tony’s Pizza) and must submit a bid to the town for the project. Create a model and explain to the select board your design idea, the components of the bridge you chose; the cost of the materials, as well as how it will handle the live load and other forces that will act upon it.
Students will learn about four common bridge designs as a jigsaw (students will research one type of bridge design and share their findings with others). Each group will choose a type of bridge to design and each student will make a scale drawing of their model. The group will use a given scale factor to calculate the length and height of the bridge, and road surface area of the actual bridge, and then build it with given materials. They will test the strength of the bridge, measure its mass and calculate its efficiency (strength: weight ratio), and redesign (following the EDP), and give a final presentation to the town select board members.
STE, Math & ELA Standards
7.MS-ETS3-4(MA). Show how the components of a structural system work together to serve a structural function. Provide examples of physical structures and relate their design to their intended use.
7.G.A.1: Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, such as computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing, and reproduce a scale drawing on a different scale.
Grade 7 Speaking & Listening Standards. Presenting knowledge and ideas:
- Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate vocabulary, eye contact, volume and pronunciation.
- Include visuals displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.
Imagining the Invisible
By Tom Young
Subject: Physics
Grade Level: 9-12
Standards: MA STE & ELA (Common Core)
You are in residency as diagnostic radiologists. When you meet one of your first patients, you find that they are extremely hesitant to undergo any type of medical imaging. Even after telling the patient that you cannot treat them without first taking images, they tell you that they do not know enough about the technology to go on with treatment.
Choose one of the following patients:
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● Charlie – a 5 year old child who fell off of a playset and is complaining to his mother about pain in his forearm, which is very swollen and not very straight. ● Megan – a 17 year old who got hit playing lacrosse and can no longer stand on her right knee. She has injured her MCL before. ● Sarania – a woman who is 4 months pregnant presents with consistent abdominal pain. ● Ronin – a 74 year old man who you strongly suspect to have hyperthyroidism |
Determine which type of Medical Imaging Technology is appropriate to diagnose the patient that you chose. Then, you must explain to the patient how the technology works, how safe it is, and why it is necessary to proceed with treatment of their condition.
STE & ELA Standards
HS-PS4-5. Communicate technical information about how some technological devices use the principles of wave behavior and wave interactions with matter to transmit and capture information and energy.*
Practice: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2.A
Introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to make important connections and distinctions; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aid comprehension.
Help Save Our Summer!
By Michelle Olivari
Subject: Science, Tech/Eng
Grade Level: 7
Standards: MA STE, DLCS & ELA (Common Core)
The National Weather Service has issued a warning that it is going to be a hot, dry summer again this year. The community of Leominster needs your help!
Concern is already starting to spread about a possible city-wide watering ban that will prevent us from watering gardens, lawns, and making sure pools are filled after endless cannon-balls and belly flops!
Using your knowledge from the book, One Well: The Story of Water on Earth, as well as the significance of sunlight and gravity in driving the water cycle, develop a system to collect and store rainfall that the citizens of Leominster will be able to use to water their lawns, gardens and fill their pools and help save the summer!
STE & ELA Standards
7.MS-ESS2-4. Develop a model to explain how the energy of the Sun and Earth’s gravity drive the cycling of water, including changes of state, as it moves through multiple pathways in Earth’s hydrosphere.
7.MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing solutions to a given design problem using a decision matrix to determine how well each meets the criteria and constraints of the problem. Use a model of each solution to evaluate how variations in one or more design features, including size, shape, weight, or cost, may affect the function or effectiveness of the solution.*
7.MS-ETS1-7(MA). Construct a prototype of a solution to a given design problem.*
Grade 7 ELA Standards (SL-speaking and listening)
- Comprehension and Collaboration SL.7.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and clearly expressing their own.
- Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas SL.7.4&5 Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate vocabulary, eye contact, volume, and pronunciation. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points
Just Following Instructions
By Tiffany Davis
Subject: Math, Art, DLCS
Grade Level: 2
Standards: MA STE, DLCS, Art, Math & ELA (Common Core)
Can you program a robot to create a Sol LeWitt-inspired geometric wall drawing?
American artist Sol LeWitt is best known for his instructional wall drawings. A proponent of minimalist, conceptual art, LeWitt famously hired other people to create installations using his written directions. The mathematical nature of LeWitt’s directions, which reference lines, shapes, angles, and patterns make LeWitt’s work a great starting point for STEAM learning.
The title of this project, “Just Following Instructions,” refers to more than LeWitt’s method for creating art. Students not only write mathematically-based instructions for making a drawing, much like LeWitt’s, but also translate those instructions into code that a robot can follow.
STE, Math, ELA & Visual Arts Standards
Grade 2.Geometry A. Reason with shapes and their attributes.
K-2.CT.d.3: Individually or collaboratively, create a simple program using visual instructions or tools that do not require a textual programming language (e.g., “unplugged” programming activities, a block-based programming language).
2.K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same design problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each object performs.
Visual Arts 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6
ELA, Grade 2 Speaking and Listening Standards [SL] & Language Standards [L]
- Comprehension and Collaboration
- Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
- Vocabulary Acquisition and Use
Getting Across the River
By John McCarthy
Subject: Tech/Eng
Grade Level: 6-8
Standards: MA STE & ELA (Common Core)
Interstate highway Route 91 spans 290 miles north/south along the Connecticut River. Bridges that span over 91 and the CT river are limited to mostly vehicle use with occasional narrow walkways alongside traffic. These sidewalks are often littered with trash, feel unsafe and are visually unappealing. As such, pedestrian, bicycle and other recreational travel across the river is difficult and limited. Your task is to design a prototype bridge that could increase and encourage safe recreational and non motorized travel over the river.
You will have access to 200 popsicle sticks, wood glue, and cardboard to build a prototype bridge. The bridge must support a weight of 20 pounds and span at least 14 inches in length. This means there cannot be any supports touching the floor or base for at least 14 inches (imagine large boats passing underneath). In addition to meeting the structural and weight bearing requirements, the bridge will be judged on its aesthetics and efficiency of materials (try to use the fewest popsicle sticks possible). Your prototype will be presented to the class and be scored using a decision matrix judging strength, efficiency and aesthetics.
STE & ELA Standards
7.MS-ETS3-4(MA). Show how the components of a structural system work together to serve a structural function. Provide examples of physical structures and relate their design to their intended use.
6.MS-ETS1-5 and 1-6(MA). Communicate a design solution to an intended user, including design features and limitations of the solution. Create visual representations of solutions to a design problem. Accurately interpret and apply scale and proportion to visual representations.
7.MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing solutions to a given design problem using a decision matrix to determine how well each meets the criteria and constraints of the problem.
ELA Standard: 6.7 Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Present claims and findings, emphasizing salient points in a focused, coherent manner with pertinent descriptions, facts, details, and examples; use appropriate vocabulary, eye contact, volume, and pronunciation. 5. Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points. 6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
OutVentures
Subject: Science, Math
Grade Level: 3
Standards: MA STE, Math & ELA (Common Core)
By Sara Donovan
Canton Outventures is a new outdoor adventure company that is moving to the Blue Hills in Canton. They want to provide various outdoor activities throughout the year, but they need to know the type of weather to expect each season.
Each group is being hired as consultants to :
- Predict Canton’s weather (temperature, precipitation) during one season.
- Show weather data in a scaled bar graph
- Create a plan to bring people to the top of Blue Hill in each season
- Provide Canton OutVentures with the information they need to provide fun, smart, evidence-based decisions for the company and for Canton residents.
STE, Math & ELA Standards
3-ESS2-1. Use graphs and tables of local weather data to describe and predict typical weather during a particular season in an area.
3.3-5-ETS1-1 – Define a simple design problem that reflects a need or a want. Include criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost that a potential solution must meet.
3.MD.B 3 Represent and interpret data
Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories. Solve one- and two-step “how many more” and “how many less” problems using information presented in scaled bar graphs.
Grade 3 Speaking and Listening: Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas
- Report on a topic, text, or solution to a mathematical problem, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace and using appropriate vocabulary.
Science Practice: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Math Practice: Model with Mathematics
