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STEM Curriculum: Project / Problem-Based Learning
STEM Curriculum: Project / Problem-Based Learning
Kindergarten Environmentalists: The Colham Ferry Clean-Up Initiative
Students will help imagine how to solve the problem of litter and other items left on our playground. This will help them think on a larger scale of how to keep their environment clean. Students will collect, sort, and count the items from the playgrounds weekly and record this data. This information will be shared to create a plan. Journals will be used to document ideas and design plans for the students to share with our partnerships. Students will learn how to be responsible for their environment and belongings. They will be empowered to share their knowledge in our CFES community so that others will do the same.
Mosquitoes - We’ve got problems!
Our school had a lot of mosquitoes in and around our building at the beginning of the year. Mosquitos were biting children during recess which created a problem. In the first half of the year, we began studying mosquitoes and what environment/weather they like best. The students researched and discussed ways to help with the mosquito problem. They decided that creating a bat box would be a good solution. The 2nd half of the year, we are beginning to discuss how to attract bats to the bat box they created. Through previous learning, students know that bats are pollinators and decided to learn and research different kinds of plants that will attract bats and repel mosquitoes. We will use this information to plant a garden to help solve our mosquito problem.
Rooting Ourselves in Our Community
At the beginning of the year, during morning meetings, students collected data and recognized a need for kindness in their schools. Through discussion, data collection, and standards-based read alouds, students collaborated and decided to focus on different ways to show kindness throughout our school and local community by using their current studies. This will culminate into a final project in which students will grow plants in order to spread kindness within our local community.
Our students believe many of the problems in our world could be changed with a little more kindness. Our goal is to spread kindness in our class, school, and local community. After we learn about the life cycle of plants, we will cultivate kindness and make connections in our local community by growing and giving flowers.
G.O.A.T.S. - Giving Opportunities and Teaching Sustainability
Third graders at Colham Ferry are participating in a year-long, cross-curricular PBL unit inspired by the book Beatrice’s Goat and the Heifer International Project. Students are learning about sustainability, and the relationship between agriculture and economics. The community outreach portion of our PBL will have a global impact by providing goats to communities in rural Africa, as well as food resources to our community of Oconee County.
Students will use what they learn during investigative research about weather, seasonal patterns, water cycle and energy needs to create water irrigation prototypes for our school gardens.
our service-learning project is growing produce for our school market in partnership with other grade levels. Our profits and additional produce will benefit a local organization that feeds families in our community.
Students will explore the impact of microorganisms on composting and use what they have learned to minimize the excessive food waste in the cafeteria.
Other Fifth Grade PBLs
Students will design a solar powered timer for an irrigation system or solar powered lighting system for hydroponics. This will be a yearlong PBL.
Students explored landforms, weathering and erosion through various labs, virtual field trips, engaging texts, current events, partnerships with local experts, and exploring erosion and its impact on others.
Students identify and define a local geologic hazard, do research on solutions, compare the solutions to decide which ones are best, and communicate those solutions to the public through a flyer. Share with the director of OC schools Grounds and Maintenance as well as the school board, and local community leaders.
Colham Ferry students participate in the UGA Great Georgia Pollinator Census. Students will analyze data posted on the UGA Census site. Using the data students will discover if any pollinator numbers are decreasing and design solutions to increase the numbers and specific types of pollinators on our school grounds. Students will create Bee Awareness products to sell at a spring Mustang Market and use the proceeds to improve CFES pollinator gardens/habitats.
STEM Curriculum: Day-to-Day Interdisciplinary Instruction
STEM Curriculum: Day-to-Day Interdisciplinary Instruction
Kindergarten Examples
1. Our students researched different animals that live on a farm, then drew and labeled each farm animal and farm animal parts. Students practiced their “sorting, counting and shapes” math standards by creating a farm animal using pattern blocks.
Farm Snap Cube Sorting Activity
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Students researched facts about owls, then drew and labeled owls and their body parts. Next, students dissected owl pellets and practiced their math standards by sorting the various bones, tried to identify the bones, and counted the bones.
Owl Research and Pellet Dissection Activity
First Grade Examples
Students practiced their scientific methods by observing and exploring pumpkins. They first had to look, feel, and smell the outside and use adjectives to describe and compare/contrast their pumpkin with other groups. We then cut each pumpkin open and students explored the inside before taking out all of the seeds and counting them. Students decided to use their base ten knowledge to group the seeds into groups of ten to count them more efficiently.
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“How many Pilgrims can safely sail across the ocean in your Mayflower?” After covering Social Studies standards centered around continents and oceans, as well as the history of the first Thanksgiving, students were asked to design their own “Mayflower” using aluminum foil. Students were then asked to place “pilgrims” (unifix) cubes in their ship. Students had to use counting and data collection skills to keep track of how many pilgrims were on each ship. Students also had to use their understanding of quantity and base-ten to effectively compare the number of passengers on each ship.
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Second Grade Examples
Students were tasked with the challenge of coming up with a way to tell time without using clocks. They used their journals to complete the steps of the Engineering and Design Process. Students decided to create sundials and use the sun and shadows to tell time. They tested their designs on a sunny day and journaled their results.
STEM Challenge Design a Sundial Activity
While studying forces and motion, students were asked to design a sled that would travel the fastest. They used their measurement skills to create their sleds and they measured the speed of their sleds using a stopwatch. Students compared their sled speeds and revisited the EDP to improve their designs.
Sled Building Forces and Motion Activity
Third Grade Examples
1. Colonial America Boat STEM Challenge - While studying Colonial America, we discussed how settlers made their journey across the ocean to America. The students posed the question, “How hard was it to build a ship that would travel all that distance?” This worked perfectly into STEM! The students were given a bag of supplies that included a cardboard square, popsicle sticks, straws, a piece of aluminum foil, a coffee filter, and tape. The students were asked to build a ship from the given supplies that would float in the water. Students also wanted to experiment with the number of cubes each design could hold. Through the design process, students discovered that building a ship was harder than it seemed!
Build-a-Boat STEM Challenge Activity
2. Solar Oven Creation/Sun-Cooked S’mores - After learning about thermal energy, students created solar ovens. Students used the engineering design process to create solar ovens that would cook s’mores. Donations from students’ families and our community partners allowed us to have all of the necessary supplies to create solar ovens and carry out our project. Through the design process, students discovered that the sun could cook their s’mores and they definitely enjoyed eating them afterwards.
Fourth Grade Examples
Gravity Jump Activity - In this activity students discover that gravity exists on all planets and moons, but the amount of gravity is different because it depends on how massive the object is. In the activity, students measure how high they can jump on Earth and then calculate (using multiplication and division) how high they would be able to jump on other planets and moons within our Solar System.
Map the World’s Water Activity - In this lesson, students use estimation and graphing to discover the difference in the amounts of fresh and saltwater on Earth. In the activity, Map the World's Water, students count, or use knowledge of multiplication to calculate squares on maps and record the amount of fresh, frozen, and salt water found in their assigned area of the world. Then students calculate and graph how much of each type of water is present on the planet. Amounts of each were then converted between various units of liquid measurement.
Fifth Grade Examples
Electromagnet Lab - Students tested electromagnets with various numbers of coils and recorded the number of paperclips each electromagnet could hold. Students then graphed results on a coordinate plane and analyzed relations between coils and number of paperclips that were collected.
Layer of the Earth Exploration- Students read an article building background knowledge about the layers of the Earth and each layer’s thickness. We discussed scale models and the concept of scaling with multiplication and division. Students used division to convert using the scale of 100 kilometers equals 1 centimeter. Students created a mathematically accurate depiction of the layers of the Earth.
STEM Activity Examples
Students conducted a data dig using their Great Georgia Pollinator Census Count data from the past 3 years. They determined that our Native Solitary Bee species were in general decline around CFES and our state. With this knowledge students researched how they could provide for native bees during all stages of their life including egg laying which led them to design and create Native Bee Houses.
Students built Native Bee Houses to attract pollinators to our school during all stages of their life cycle. Students will monitor the temperature of bee houses during different times of the day and in different locations (full sun, partial sun, shade) to monitor if the houses get too hot (above 100) for the eggs/larvae to survive. Students will use the collected temperature data to choose the best locations/habitat for future bee houses.
Technology Integration
Technology Integration
Kindergarten Example
Students shared about our PBL progress by talking about what they are putting in their STEM journals.
First Grade Example
Students shared the different components of STEM and how they incorporated them into our PBL.
Second Grade Examples
The book to begin our PBL was The Curious Garden. It is about a boy who helps a garden grow, which betters his community. Students were asked to respond to a question regarding the text in the form of a Flipgrid. The question was, “Why did Liam help the garden grow?” This was a part of our “Ask” phase. Students were asking how they could spread kindness in their community. This relates directly to our ELA standards about asking and answering questions and recounting a story to determine a moral or a lesson.
Students created their own Brainpop movies at the culmination of our Changing Seasons Unit in Science. Each student’s assignment was to “show what you know”. The students presented their movie to the class. This was their teaching moment to show all that they learned.
Third Grade Examples
After learning about different types of animal adaptations, students picked any animal (alive or extinct) and researched information about it. They then created a google drawing describing the animal’s adaptations and facts about the chosen animal. The class shared the completed Google Drawings with each other as presentations.
Fourth Grade Examples
After learning a short history of space exploration and the different types of space technology, students researched and became experts in space technology. As their final product they created google websites about a space exploration of their choice. We then shared the websites with others to educate them on the different types of space technology.
Space Technology Google Site Project Rubric
Fifth Grade Examples
For our Food Waste PBL, students designed and produced stop motion videos to educate others about food waste. This included solutions on how to reduce food waste. These videos were shared with each class in addition to the school-wide morning show.
STEM Activity Examples
Students designed an irrigation system for our future hydroponic garden using Tinkercad designing app.
Students created videos on Flipgrid and produced QR codes for all of our theme gardens and the plants growing in them. These QR code signs are posted in the gardens for all visitors to interact with and learn about our CFES gardens.
Investigative Research
Investigative Research
Kindergarten Example
Kindergarten students completed the C-E-R model to deepen their understanding of taking care of the Earth. Students completed hands-on learning where they discovered why it is important to take care of the Earth. They focused on the environment that they see every day at school, the CFES playground. The students were able to REASON why so much litter and lost and found is located on our playground and what action steps should be taken to improve our environment at CFES. They designed trash cans that would get students attention to help remind them to throw away trash in the proper receptacles.
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First Grade Example
In our light unit, students investigated the claim that shadows change based on the distance from the light source. Using flashlights and paper groundhogs, students moved the flashlight to determine that the closer you moved the light source to the object, the larger the shadow became.
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Second Grade Example
Students completed a C-E-R titled, “Cookie Weigh-In” to investigate the properties of matter. They discovered using data the answer to the following question: Will the weight of a bag of cookies be the same, more, or less after breaking the cookies into pieces? (reversible vs. irreversible changes)
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Third Grade Examples
After learning about Georgia’s habitats, students used their research skills and science knowledge to complete a CER on the adaptations you would expect to see of organisms living in certain habitats of Georgia. The students could choose plants/animals from either the mountain region or the coastal plain region of Georgia and write about 2 adaptations they would expect those organisms to have. They had to make a claim and support that evidence with reasoning.
Habitat/Adaptations C-E-R Activity
Fourth Grade Example
Students used their research skills from ELA to help them read and form a text-based opinion about the type of Irrigation system that would be best for our school. Then students used this knowledge to write a CER response outlining the best irrigation prototype to make as a prototype for their PBL.
Fifth Grade Example
After learning about the classification of living things, students used their scientific knowledge to classify unfamiliar organisms with characteristics from multiple categories. Students had to make a claim based on evidence, and support that evidence with reasoning.
STEM Activity Example
Students completed a CER activity entitled, Is Sand a Solid or a Liquid? Students had to gather evidence and prove using the tools provided that sand was what they claimed. (a solid or a liquid). Students had to look deep to gather evidence when at first glance sand appears to have many of the characteristics of a liquid (pourable, takes the shape of the container, etc.).
STEM Journals
STEM Journals
Kindergarten Examples
Kindergarten students are new to STEM so we began by modeling what a STEM journal is and why we use it. Students have worked on recording observations, questions, ideas/plans, and graphing data. Students reflected on what we have learned and recorded at this point in our PBL. Our Kindergarten Environmentalists started by identifying the problem (litter and lost & found on the playground) and thinking of possible solutions. They also graphed the data we collected each week concerning the litter, lost & found, and recreational items found on the playground.
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Litter, Lost & Found, and Recreation Clean Up Data Collection
First Grade Example
In an effort to learn more about mosquito predators, first grade students used a wide variety of resources to investigate bats. Students learned that only certain bats would be effective at reducing our mosquito population and recorded this information in their STEM journals.
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Second Grade Examples
In an effort to learn more about historical figures who embody our PBL goal of kindness, students researched individuals who changed the world in a positive way. This was integrated with our informational writing unit in which students completed research and then wrote an informational writing piece.
Third Grade Examples
As a part of our year-long PBL unit, students researched the country of Uganda, goats, and goat care. Students generated questions for experts and worked with community partners to gain knowledge in multiple fields from growing loofahs, to pollination, to agriculture in Uganda and Kenya. Among other projects, third grade students also used the EDP to research and investigate heat by creating solar ovens, and pollination by creating bee homes.
Student Research Paper Example
Uganda Research Pictures 1 – 2
Bee Houses Pictures 1
Community Partner 1
Fourth Grade Examples
Students are using their knowledge of organisms in ecosystems and water to redesign our gardens. They have learned about the needs of the plants that we would like to grow and are designing an irrigation system according to that information that will water the gardens as needed. We have collected rain data via student created rain gauges as well as the CFES weather STEM.
Imagine Picture 1
Plan Picture 1
Rain Gauge Creation Picture 1
Data Collection Picture 1
Fifth Grade Examples
Students researched local problems relating to changes in Earth’s surface. Students chose to address the issues of Erosion on the CFES playground and provided possible solutions to prevent wearing away of the land. These were then presented to Brock Toole, head of school grounds and maintenance for Oconee County Schools.
STEM Activity Examples
Students researched and classified native plants in order to create a landscape design in Oconee County.
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