It's easy to find students who are enthusiastic about science at the Kiski Area Upper Elementary School, but it's harder to tell what class they're talking about.
Of course, there is science in science class, such as building and testing balsa wood bridges, but there's science being learned throughout the building, whether it's building simulations in plastic containers to learn how coal is formed in a humanities class on Pennsylvania history, reading 'The Great Big Brain Book' in reading class or practicing graphing in math class before an engineering lesson on designing a water filter.
Many schools boast they have STEM programs - and in some cases, STEAM, with an A for arts.
Now the Carnegie Science Center has created a STEM Excellence Pathway so schools can better determine the quality of their STEM programs and how to improve them.
On Tuesday, representatives of 12 schools or school districts, including Kiski Area Upper Elementary, will begin self-assessments using the pathway, the first such workshop in the region. The pathways give the schools concrete, measurable steps to help them improve how they offer STEM learning.
'A lot of schools know STEM is important and they're focusing on it, but they don't have a common language to define what that is, and they don't have a clear sense of direction on how to go about achieving that,' said Alana Kulesa, director of strategic education initiatives at the science center.
Ms. Kulesa thinks the quality of STEM offerings is 'all over the board.'
'I think some folks are saying, 'We have science classes and we teach math and we're going to do something with engineering and we use technology because we have laptops, so we're a STEM school,' ' Ms. Kulesa said.
But she said the four fundamentals of STEM are inquiry-based education that challenges students to discover and ask questions, a curriculum that integrates STEM, project-based group learning with relevant real-world projects and career awareness.
Jason Brown, the science center's director of science and education, said of the Kiski program, 'In short, what makes their school so good is that they are STEM-focused across the entire curriculum.'
He noted that a STEM specialist helps other teachers to develop hands-on projects and gives students 'opportunities to tie conceptual content to a hands-on activity.'
When the renovated school for 575 students in grades 5 and 6 reopened in fall 2013, the building and the curriculum were constructed with STEM in the forefront, from the stairwell that features geological periods to the robotics lab with plenty of room for testing. Classrooms have smartboards and document cameras and even a nearby sink.
That leads to a lot of hands-on activities, of which sixth-grader Jake Folaron said, 'That's one of the main reasons why I enjoy waking up and coming to school every morning.'
Principal Joshua Weaver was hired a year before the school building, which was enlarged from 20,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet, was opened to work with potential staff on designing the school. In the district's realignment, the K-4 grades focus on literacy, 5-6 on STEM and 7-12 on a variety of interests.
The students are divided into 'families' in each grade level, with each group of students sharing four core subject teachers. Most students 'loop,' which means they have the same teachers for both years.
The schedule is designed to allow extra periods for science labs. Students still have art and music, including instrumental lessons.
STEM specialist Michele Thomas works with all of the students and helps teachers develop lessons that include STEM. Students also rotate through a technology applications lab and take a robotics class.
The school has sets of laptops, each shared by two classrooms, but students are encouraged to bring their own devices. Even in their downtime at lunch, some students are on their iPads or cell phones.
Seated with friends at lunch, sixth-grader Rebecca Fowler was reading 'The Scorch Trials' on her iPad mini. She said she mainly reads books on her device but sometimes does research. Rebecca said she enjoys science experiments, recalling one on chemical reactions last year, and likes the science emphasis in some reading assignments.
'It helps me connect the different subjects,' she said.
Robotics teacher Joe Steeves has sixth-graders programming table-top robots and then seeing if the robots move and then stop within a fraction of a centimeter from a Lego figure.
'To me, what we do here is basically problem solving and critical thinking. I think that's the great asset I could give kids moving forward,' he said.
The school also offers clubs, including one in which students raise trout from eggs and release them when grown into a stream.
'It's been a lot of fun, I can tell you that,' said Mr. Weaver.
Education writer Eleanor Chute: echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.
Entities 0 Name: Kulesa Count: 2 1 Name: Michele Thomas Count: 1 2 Name: Kiski Area Upper Elementary School Count: 1 3 Name: Jake Folaron Count: 1 4 Name: Joshua Weaver Count: 1 5 Name: Pennsylvania Count: 1 6 Name: Alana Kulesa Count: 1 7 Name: Kiski Count: 1 8 Name: Rebecca Fowler Count: 1 9 Name: Kiski Area Upper Elementary Count: 1 10 Name: Carnegie Science Center Count: 1 11 Name: Jason Brown Count: 1 12 Name: Rebecca Count: 1 13 Name: Weaver Count: 1 14 Name: Joe Steeves Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/YZTFYT Title: Report Finds 'Deeper Learning' Model Improves Outcomes for All Students Description: The conversation about what kids need to know and to be able to do by the end of high school has gradually shifted over the past several years to emphasize not just rigorous content goals, but also less tangible skills, such as creative thinking, problem-solving and collaboration.
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