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It is interesting to see how science has affected our past and how it will affect our future. As a soon to be elementary teacher, I find it interesting to be able to show the students how science has advanced our technology today. Science is part of many of the advancements that we use daily. As we show our students the connection between science and the technology we use today, it will help them to understand how important it is for them to learn. It can teach them that there is a connection between the two and that when they understand science, they can help to advance technology for the future. 

Dr. Ramirez provides support for a very intriguing way of instructing students on science, specifically technological inventions. As an elementary education major, we often discuss ways in which we can create cross-curricular lessons. Ramirez demonstrates a way in which science and history can be taught together. By looking at the past, and how particular inventions have shaped the culture, individuals can then begin to infer the implications of new technology introduced today. In my future classroom, I wish to encourage independent thinkers who can view issues and societal matters with a competent lense of scientific, historical, and cultural understanding. By using history in the STEAM setting, I can help students understand how inventions and advancements impact the world.  I think it is important that students do not come to see science or STEAM as a singular entity, completely separated from history or culture.  STEAM should be presented in a manner that connects it to all content areas as well as the world students live in. As Ramirez seems to imply, this added connection of history, provides more meaning and depth to the content, leading to greater connections and hopefully as a result, higher rates of retention. 

As an elementary education major, I have been taught the importance of creating co-curricular lessons. Dr. Ramirez provided many interesting ways on how science and history can be taught together. After reading about Dr. Ramirez’s new approach, I know I can teach science as well as the social implication while exercising student’s ability to see the world differently and think more critically. I have gained a new perspective on how I can show students the connection between science and the technology we use today to help them understand the importance of what they are learning. I will use what I learned from this article with my future students because I want them to make deep connections and give them a new way to see the world.

This seems like a great way to engage students at the high school level, as well. Not only can it be a part of lectures, but student discussions could center around how they have been impacted by inventions and technology. One of the challenges and I am still wrestling with is connecting with students who are only in the classroom as a requirement, but this could offer a connection to their own lives that places them within the science and forces them to form opinions about it.