Plants, Pots, and Paints: Full STEAM Ahead

With some educators talking about changing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Art, & Math), this article might be a way to see some con... See More

With some educators talking about changing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Art, & Math), this article might be a way to see some connections between the science of plant growth and the art of making clay pots. Two fourth grade teachers (one in art and the other in science) pair up to present a study they called “Plants, Pots and Paints”. Students began by planting bulbs in their schoolyard during the months of October and November. In art class, they created their own clay pots. As the year progressed, they eventually planted their bulbs into their clay pots and brought them indoors. There are so many other connections between plant science and art that are made in the article. Schools, where time to collaborate is honored and provided, will find this an excellent way to integrate art with science studies.

Integrating Science and the Arts

Initially I chose to include this article into my library because I enjoy getting new ideas for integrating the arts into various subjects for the classroom. By reading through the article I... See More

Initially I chose to include this article into my library because I enjoy getting new ideas for integrating the arts into various subjects for the classroom. By reading through the article I learned that the team who created the activity underwent lots of research about each portion of the activity such as researching what bulbs would bloom at the appropriate time, what type of vessel they would best react to, and the guiding lessons based on grade-level. If I were to adopt this lesson into my future classroom, I would use TEK 4.7A The student is expected to examine properties of soils, including color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of plants. Because I don't have much experience with growing plants, it was hard to agree or disagree with their methods, however the article provided detailed feedback as to how they obtained the correct plants for the lesson. One thing I really liked about the activity is that the experiment is repeated each year and students that have already completed the experiment in pervious years can see the plants growing and help out those below them.