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Hello all,

Blended STEM learning experiences that connect in-school and out-of-school learning are a key recommendation in the recently released America's Strategy for STEM Education strategic plan.  Research by Adam Maltese, Robert Tai, and colleagues also shows how important out-of-school STEM experiences are at developing an interest in science, especially at the elementary school level.

NSTA is hosting a Virtual Conference titled 'Connecting In-School and Out-of-School STEM Learning and Teaching' on Saturday, December 7, 2019.  For more information about the conference and how to register, visit: https://learningcenter.nsta.org/virtualconference

Please tell us about your collaborations - how are you blending in-school and out-of-school experiences?  Please share information about your programs and activities, your ideas, and your questions with others within this Topic.

Flavio.

Hi Flavio,

I'm a student teacher and will be joining the work force in August. I'm still learning ways to implement STEM lesson that are relevent to in-school and out-of-school experiences, so I'm interested to see other peoples response to this forum. One lesson I enjoyed in particular that my mentor teacher implemented was related to the European explorers. I'm in a 5th grade setting and the students were learning about European explorers in social studies. My mentor teacher integrated a STEM lesson where they had to construct their own ships that would be able to hold two big glue sticks with out tipping over or sinking. After the ships were tested, the students ships that were not successful were able to make modifications to try get it to stay afloat. 

Thank you for this opportunity,

Kayli 

Hi Flavio, 

Your post reminds me of one of the partnerships that my students have with a local biological research station. My high school is in the Flint Hills of Northeast Kansas which is predominantly tallgrass prairie. Many of my students live on family farms and ranches so we incorporate many examples from agriculture into my life science courses. Each year my students visit a local biological research station, Konza Prairie, as part of a Student Long Term Ecological Research (SLTER) experience .  At Konza Prairie, my students observe the effects of different fire treatment on the native tallgrass prairie at several of their acre test plots. We combine this experience with our own study on an area of native tallgrass prairie near our school campus. My students love working with the Konza Environmental Education Program (KEEP) staff and visiting with the researchers that work at this field station. In fact, several years ago one of my classes was able to visit with the principal investigator in charge of the entire station. Each year they leave with a greater understanding of why their parents and neighboring ranchers manage their rangeland the way they do.  It is a great example of how science applies to my students' everyday lives.  

Hi Flavio,

I've been working to build younger students' interests in STEM subjects by leading out-of-school atomic theory classes at schools and other community organizations.  As the periodic table is a kind of alphabet, it makes sense to introduce it at a younger age, rather than wait for secondary school.  Just like the letters of the alphabet build words and stories, the symbols of elements on the periodic table build chemical formulas and all the matter we can see and experience around us.  I've primarily taught grades 3 - 5, but have offered classes down to kindgergarten, with great feedback from the students.  They love learning answers to how and why questions, and have plenty of imagination to help them visualize how differences in subatomic particle composition affect properties of elements and compounds.  Atomic theory underlies all the other science and engineering concepts students learn as they progress through school.  Giving them a better vocabulary to discuss STEM concepts, like how ice and steam differ from each other at the atomic level, even though they're made from the same molecules, or why aluminum makes a better choice than other metals to cover an airplane if you want it to be able to generate lift, helps promote enjoyment and understanding to encourage continued interest in STEM subjects.

We've just recently started pairing the elementary atomic theory classes with a planetarium show that illustrates how atoms with higher atomic numbers are formed through thermonuclear fusion in the stars, to further spark interest and give an additional out-of-classroom experience.

I'm looking forward to learning of more ways to integrate in- and out-of-school STEM learning this weekend, and obtain more evidence to gain support for more of these types of programs in our school districts.

My 6th grade students and I will be participating in a Can Structure Competion.  The local Youth Volunteer Corps is hosting the competition.  We will have engineering students from Penn State Berks help us with engineering and planning of our structures.  The competition involves collecting canned goods for the local food bank and creating a structure out of them that inspires kindness during the competition at the mall.  The planning will take place during an after school club.  I really like how the competition involves STEM, art, and community service.

A question that I have about in and out of school STEM is what ways exist to fund programs when it is out of school but connected to school?

Hi Flavio,

I am a 2nd grade teacher in La Paz, Bolivia. Next year I will be teaching 4th grade. I am super excited to learn more about STEAM. Recently I did a pollination activity in Science. My kids loved it. Administration at my school has asked me to take the lead in STEAM. I tood a PBL workshop in the Summer but I feel I need to learn so much more.

Hello everyone, I am a Campus Scientist on a small rural elementary school. This a new position in our district and I pretty  much have free reign. I would like to include STEM in my curriculum and have done a couple of small projects to just get our feet wet, so to speak. I am hoping that this conference will help me to develop a more concise STEM curriculum.

Hello,

I am Joe Blizzard.  I am a STEM/STEAM Teacher at Roper Mountain Science Center.  Our center is a school district based science center in Greenville South Carolina.  We have a life science building, living history farm, STEM building, observatory, planetarium, and are currently building a sustainablity, environmental science building.  During the school year, we host students from our district, around the state, and surrounding states with a variety of programs across the mountain with hands on lab experiences, a journey through time on the farm, planetarium shows, and live science demonstration shows.  We see students from 1-8th grade and working on programming for high school students (who currently can only volunteer with us).  Our goal is the connection between in-school and out of school science education.  It is the heart of who we are.

We also have virtual field trips and in-person outreach programs that go into schools during and after school.  Our virtual field trips extend our reach across the country and even other countries.  I am currently working on a middle school STEM after school program that will focus on engineering and design (including 3D printing).  

We also have events open to the public to inspire people in the realm of science and STEM.  This includes camps all summer and a month-long (6 weeks, actually) butterfly encounter with hands-on explorations.

I am hoping on learning a lot about to further our reach with connecting our resources to the classroom experience for students.

I was able to attend Emma Banay and Fran Agnone's presentation, Better Together: Bridging the School-Day and Afterschool in a STEM Enrichment Program. It was excellent. Both Emma and Fran described a rich program of learning in which in-school teachers and afterschool teachers collaborated throughout the year. The results was a seamless, spiral experience (Design2Learn) where they applied the content that students were learning during the school day in afterschool programs in new and innovative ways. They shared multiple fun, content-rich, design-based learning experiences. If you missed this presentation, I encourage you to view it in the archive and to check out their resources in the collection. I left inspired.