Mrs. Anderson will share her story of how she is growing STEM awareness at Cumberland County High School while being the only STEM-CS grant participant representing her school. Mrs. Anderson will share her experience of collaborating with the science department to plan and implement a STEM lesson with students. Resources from the Endeavor STEM Leadership program will be shared with attendees.

Mr. Kurtis Wright will showcase engineering concepts integrated with the high school geometry standards. In one of Mr. Wright’s instructional units, students will learn how geometry, engineering practices, and weather patterns relate to the roofing system for a house. Students have previously done a full material take off and cost estimate for installing a roof system in northern Kentucky versus a roof system in south Florida. Students would have the same roof lines and require that both locations have a shingle roof. Students would have to research the weather patterns in both areas for the past 15 years and determine which materials would be needed to have the most efficient and cost effective roof for both locations.

Mrs. Lori Chaney and Ms. Shannon Poort will share how they incorporated Data Talks in the classroom and bring awareness to attendees about how many STEM resources are available. Attendees can expect a demonstration on how to incorporate STEM ideas into their current activities and lessons, and introduce resources that will enhance their lessons and encourage more student involvement. This session will also be beneficial to teachers who are teaching remotely because many of the resources and data sources are available online.

Mrs. Catherine Hughes will inform and educate session attendees on what the 5E model is. Session attendees will break down the 5Es using a lesson that Mrs. Hughes implemented and discuss the purpose and potential of each area. Mrs. Hughes will show them a sample 5E plan, showcasing how STEM and the 21st century skills are naturally embedded in this lesson’s model. Mrs. Hughes will also share resources in her toolbox that she has gathered along the way, such as NASA lessons and videos for other teachers to use. If time allows, Mrs. Hughes will allow teachers to think of a topic they teach in their content, and then find a 5E model plan that has already been created. Session attendees can search through NASA assets or other shared sources to design/order their own lesson.

Mrs. Tara Wright will deliver lesson ideas and resources to fellow high school STEM teachers taking part in STEM-Fest so they may be equipped to integrate the other STEM disciplines in their lessons and promote the use of the mathematical practices with their students. Mrs. Wright feels that mathematics teaching has traditionally been very skill focused. Integrating content in a way that promotes mathematical practices is easier than you realize, come see how!

Mrs. Jalyn Puckett is passionate about helping her ELL students succeed. All students are STEM innovators if they are given the appropriate support and expectations. When teachers think about trying to complete STEM activities with ELL students, they can get overwhelmed because the language barriers make it seem like they can’t participate in the same critical thinking skills as other students. However, that is simply not the case. Mrs. Puckett will show some language resources and graphic organizers that might help ELL students become more active participants in STEM instruction and problem-solving activities. Attendees will see how Mrs. Puckett implemented the assistive tools and technology in her classroom to make STEM accessible for ELL students.

This session will feature the Butler County High School Science Department and attendees can expect the following:

1) A showcase of engineering design methods applicable to different age groups.

2) Answering questions of why engineering is important and why BCHS made the transition from the scientific method to the engineering design method.

3) Examples of engineering design activities used in our classrooms that were developed during the E in Engineering Endeavor STEM Leadership course. Specifically, a bouncy ball engineering design project and a solar-powered water heater project.

4) Student-led projects that were inspired by the E in Engineering course. Specifically, the Alternative Energy Sources on Mars project, the Hydronics on the Moon project, and the Building a Better Space Suit project.

5) Attendees will experience a sample engineering design task in which they will engineer a paper Mars helicopter inspired by Ingenuity.

Ms. Brandi Matthews and Ms. Amanda Nutt, of Caverna Independent High School, collaborated to create a STEM learning experience that incorporates authentic data collection, analysis, and problem solving to tackle a real-world issue. Using various NASA and other STEM resources students researched quality resources that would help them obtain the data they need, use statistics to understand the data, and empathize with a real-world issue to solve. Their school has a small staff and relies on their interconnectedness to allow educators to work together and provide resources and engaging learning experiences for students. This collaborative approach will allow educators to create relatable real-world applications that can bring the nature of STEM education to classrooms.

Hands-On STEAM Explorations for Young Learners, our anchor text for this workshop, uses popular children’s nursery rhymes to explore rigorous STEAM concepts. In this hands-on/minds-on session educators will have the opportunity to explore how to increase challenge with age-appropriate real-world learning connections through literacy and STEAM investigations. We will also explore how the investigations and content builds across the grade levels. While the anchor text is written for PreK-Primary, these thinking strategies and content will be easily adapted for upper elementary. (Fun Fact: Allison taught these lessons to upper grades GT students before writing Hands On STEAM, so please don't be scared off by nursery rhymes if you teach older children.)