ST1.11

Students are supported in their STEM learning through adult-world connections and extended day opportunities

In order to make STEM experiences more meaningful and relevant part of the learning must take place outside the confines of the traditional school setting. These experiences afford students a chance to extend and enhance previous classroom instruction, apply their skills to real-life scenarios and interact with adults that are in STEM-related college courses or professions. Authenticity is an important factor in determining whether concepts or ideas ultimately "stick" with a student. It's no surprise then that the most authentic experiences often occur when students can visit the actual venues that house STEM facilities and personnel. Sometimes this involves interactive field trips, such as when our fifth graders became the very first elementary school age students to attend University of Alabama's E-Day (College of Engineering day of recruitment), or when our third grade got to run inventory systems at Buffalo Rock Distributors to see firsthand how math and technology drive a local workplace. We've even sent students as far away as Louisiana to attend the STEM-Nola conference and compete in robotics design challenges. Other times we must bring the STEM world to us in order to offer extended day learning opportunities. Last year we had a team of mechanics and technicians come to UPES on a Saturday afternoon to help students assemble an electric car, and Budding Entrepreneurs is an example of an ongoing after school project wherein community members tutor students on the math and logistics of running our farm stand. The through-line in all these experiences and activities is that students (and teachers) are afforded additional opportunities to make connections between classroom content and real-world tasks and challenges, and that they get to apply those ideas, in a hands-on fashion, alongside actual STEM practitioners.

E-Day at The University of Alabama

We're very proud of the fact that University Place was the first elementary school to attend University of Alabama's E-Day. The "E" stands for "engineering", and it signifies a day wherein the engineering colleges join forces to put on a demonstration of their collective works. Ostensibly a recruitment day for potential high school students, we recognized that it would also be a great interactive experience for our young STEM learners. Several years ago one of our parents that taught mechanical engineering invited us to come see the race cars his students were building, and we took that opening to invite ourselves to the entire recruitment fair. It turned out to be such a success that we've returned every year since, giving our students a chance to see firsthand where their STEM "roots" would eventually lead them, and in the process provide them an opportunity to establish adult-world connections and meet potential new partners.

Through E-Day our students have learned about aerospace, chemical, electrical, computer, mechanical and civil engineering. They have met engineering clubs that are all-female or African American, which adds an element of identification and representation that is vitally important in our mission to broaden young minds. We have also established multiple new partnerships and collaborations from our yearly visits, as many of the UA student engineers realize that they can fulfill college outreach requirements by volunteering at our school.

Most importantly, our children have fun. They have the opportunity to talk with faculty members and engineering students, take tours and experience exciting, hands on learning activities. There is little doubt about the impact of strolling the campus and sitting in engineering classrooms and science labs. Our students leave with the notion that someday in the near future they will be the ones running tests, collecting data and building the next prototype.

Electric Car Construction

Last winter UPES invested in a GreenPower USA electric car as a fun and engaging way to help our students see how their math and science lessons translate directly to the performance and design of a race car or automobile. We know that learning must continue outside the classroom, so we planned a way for students to join forces with some of our parents and members of the University of Alabama Engineering Club to build the car over a series of Saturday mornings. It was a very complex build, so we were especially grateful to have the engineers assisting us, and it was a great chance for our students to mingle with college-age adults and ask questions. Another benefit was that the construction required a lot of hands-on time with power tools and hardware. There is nothing quite so valuable and impacting as putting a tool in a child's hand. Now that the car is built our short term goal is to investigate the eco-friendly/aware aspects of the Siemens Racing program's curriculum, or "Green Racing" during our after school and summer programs, and plan to have students begin experimenting with possible car body coverings as related to aerodynamic principles. Long range goals include extended field trips or travel opportunities as a UPES Race Team eventually will begin competing against other Alabama schools in sanctioned Goblin races.

Budding Entrepreneurs

Budding Entrepreneurs is an after school program in partnership with School Yard Roots and The University of Alabama Honor's College designed to offer students the hands-on experience of maintaining a garden and running a farm stand. The goal of this program is for students to develop basic business and financial literacy skills through marketing, selling, packaging, and accounting of produce sales. As part of this program students learn fundamental marketing skills and create advertisements for the farm stand that they organize and manage. They are also required to harvest and weigh the vegetables for selling, and must learn the about the nutritional value and ways to eat the food they are selling so that they can explain it to their customers. The students in Budding Entrepreneurs are required to keep a transaction log where they track and categorize sales, expenses, and profits from the farm stand. Budding Entrepreneurs offers students the opportunity to practice, apply and combine the critical thinking and STEM learning that takes place in the classroom and in the garden.

STEM NOLA

A group of UPES students recently traveled to Louisiana to participate in the STEM NOLA Conference. This expo was led by New Orleans native, Dr. Calvin Mackie, who is a former tenured Tulane Engineering professor. Students participated in activities led by engineers from SHELL Oil Company, General Motors (Cadillac Motor Car Division) and worked alongside STEM majors from Xavier University, Tulane University and Louisiana State University. STEM NOLA activities were designed to highlight the alignment of education, economic development, industry and workforce needs. Our student team was involved in a lesson that determined the best extraction technique of oil from water to clean up after an oil spill and maximize the return for oil companies. The second activity required students to use their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy, construction of wheels and axles, and the impact of friction and momentum as they built a model car. The culminating event was an official race, where UPES students competed against students (grades 6^th-12^th) from across the United States. One of our 5^th grade students finished in 2^nd place.

STEM Field Trips

In order to truly appreciate real-world application of classroom skills, it's necessary for students to get out of the classroom and into the real world! We've been very fortunate that many of our local businesses and community partners have taken an interest in our STEM program and over the past few years they have provided numerous STEM-specific learning opportunities. On a field trip students get an authentic experience that simply cannot be replicated in a school setting, and it has a measurable, lasting impact. We've done student surveys wherein we asked about future career choices, and time and again we've seen that data shift from the obvious and unlikely (basketball player, singer) to the newfound and possible (engineer, architect) when students have had a chance to inhabit new environments and meet professional people.

One of our first partnerships was with Moody Radio. Each year they host our entire third grade (over a three day period) at their local station. Prior to the trip students create newscasts, radio drama scripts and commercials to read on air. Once at Moody they get a firsthand look at sound engineering and satellite technology, and get to record their "pieces" in a sound booth. Students then edit their recordings on a mixer until they are satisfied with the end results. While some of the more technical aspects are perhaps a bit complex for eight year old children, the combination of literacy (both reading and writing), presentation skills and technology has always been a highly engaging and useful exercise. Students are awed by the banks of computers, the microphones, sound proofing and editing systems, and more importantly, the idea and process of broadcasting information, and the transmission of data is no longer abstract.

Buffalo Rock Distributors is another of our long-lasting field trip destinations. We have sent numerous classes over to this packaging and shipping facility because it allows students to see firsthand how mathematics completely controls how an assembly line and delivery system operate. Buffalo Rock actually lets the students coordinate and time an entire "run" of beverages and snacks. Students work in collaborative teams to chart inventory, track it through the boxing and labeling process and monitor the speed and efficiency of each other's "work". This trip is one of my personal favorites because of the very hands-on nature of the experience, and due to the fact that students are performing calculations and operations directly applicable to their classroom math instruction. The floor managers do a great job of speaking about their own school experiences with math and technology and how it helps them perform their duties. One year they even prepared a math quiz for our students as an "exit slip"!

Another example of a STEM-specific field trip was our school visit with Ellis Architects and the Tuscaloosa Planning Commission. Several classes were working on a "Boom Town" project wherein students had to design and layout a town's infrastructure, and then populate it with all necessary businesses. Putting together the road and housing grid proved to be quite challenging, as did the creation of architecturally sound structures and dwellings. Students were able to visit several construction sites, in varying degrees of work progression, to see how engineers put together foundations and inner supports to ensure a safe build, and architects went over the blueprints to highlight the necessity of following a plan. We saw this type of enhanced, hands-on instruction pay off when these same students had to design and build their own scale model houses and draw up corresponding blueprints. The Boom Town project was a huge success, in large part because students were able to translate, or transfer their real world experience to their classroom activity.

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