A STEMS2 Unit Should...

A STEMS2 unit should allow the students to see the integration between Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Social Sciences, and Sense of Place. I feel that right now, people teach all of these things separately but I feel that the purpose of making an acronym is so that we know that these things should be treated differently but they work very well together. The point that I’m trying to make here is that instead of one day having the students learn about science or one day have the students learn about math, but make an entire unit or lesson that involves applying each of the different categories as a whole. If we do this, I feel that our students would be more engaged because many of these topics involve the students to be hands-on, do problem solving, make use of modern and non-modern day technology, and even use or apply what they have learned towards their environment and society.

The experiences that the students should engage in should definitely be related to real-life experiences that they’ll encounter. However, this may be difficult because we can’t have field trips to everybody’s homes every day because we not only need to fulfill our STEMS2 goals, but also our standards of the curriculum that we’re involving STEMS2 in. Therefore, I feel that we should have a balance of engaging the students outside of the classroom and within the classroom so that they are engaged with actual surroundings that they’ll encounter. They will not be stuck in a classroom for the rest of their lives… unless they become a teacher =P

It is difficult for me to give a time limit for how long this unit should be because I feel that the best units or lessons are the ones that the students will carry on and experience for the rest of their lives. If we can give them the skills that they’ll use and remember in our STEMS2 class, then it’ll be the best unit ever. It is unfortunate though that as for me, I’m limited on the curriculum that’s already made for my class, so I not only need to focus on STEMS2, but just physics experiences that they need to encounter. I love having to incorporate or think of the ideas that keep popping into my head about applying STEMS2 into a physics point of view though.

Therefore, to summarize the key parts simply, I feel that our STEMS2 unit should:

Emphasize the integration and connection between Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Social Sciences (societal issues), and Sense of Place (taking care of the environment and others)

Make a connection with the standards in the classes that we’ll be teaching in

Use multiple ways to assess the students both inside and outside of the classroom

“Learning Journeys” that relate to the students’ life and sense of place

There’s probably more, but these are definitely the ones that are jumping out at me. Hope you enjoyed the read!