Hello! I am a preservice teacher, who will be a full time teacher in the Fall, and was wondering if anyone has any great ideas for year-long (or unit-long) projects? I really want to try incorporating hands on projects in my future classroom that implement STEM. I will be certified to teach between the grade levels of EC-6 so I am open to a variety of ideas! Thanks!
Jessica, there are a lot of opportunities for long-term projects that require some initial set up with ongoing observations. A lot of it depends on what you are passionate about and able to tackle. I suggest looking at http://ngss.nsta.org/Resource.aspx?ResourceID=94 I chose Bottle Biology because I have done this with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and it's always interesting and exciting. Look around and see what you like. http://media.wfyi.org/IndianaExpeditions/IDEXSeason2_2009/IDEX201/IDEX201BottleBiologyTerrariumL.pdf
Jessica, In a classroom I had observed in a previous semester, I saw stem bins! These are awesome bins that the first graders used to create different architectural designs such as bridges, towers, etc. They were made out of a multitude of items that stuck together such as popsicle sticks and velcro, straws, magnets, etc. This isn't necessarily a semester or year-long project, but you could make it into one by having students keep track of what they built, the materials they used and how they decided on the design!
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