Chapter 1: Introduction to STEM
Example Projects
Integrated/Cross-Disciplinary STEM Example Project 1
Title
Shape Hunt and Plant Parts
Author
Alissa Lange, Amie Craven, & Jamie Price
Grade/Grade Span
First Grade
Summary
This unit explores different shapes, their characteristics, and composite shapes. Students will experience these concepts in books, shape hunts, videos, and shape tiles. They will find various shapes around their classroom in a shape hunt. One activity will involve asking students to use pattern blocks and pattern block puzzles to create plants. Students will use composite shapes and discuss the various plant parts that make up the plants. Students should be able to discuss attributes of different shapes, create composite shapes, and accurately name major plant parts by the end of their shape study.
DCI
- Math
- Science
Standards
Math
1.G.A.1 Distinguish between attributes that define a shape (e.g., number of sides and vertices) versus attributes that do not define the shape (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw two-dimensional shapes to possess defining attributes.
1.G.A.2 Create a composite shape and use the composite shape to make new shapes by using two-dimensional shapes (rectangles, squares, trapezoids, triangles, half-circles, and quarter-circles) or three-dimensional shapes (cubes, rectangular prisms, cones, and cylinders).
Science
1.ETS2: Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society 1) Use appropriate tools (magnifying glass, basic balance scale) to make observations and answer testable scientific questions.
1.LS1.1 Recognize the structure of plants (roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits)
5Es
Engage. Students will begin this unit in a whole group as teachers read the book, I Spy Shapes in Art (or other shape composition book, like The Shape of Things), to the class. This book asks students to find shapes in various paintings and the class will go through this book and talk about the shapes they find on the pages. Teachers will name the different shapes and discuss the shapes characteristics throughout the book. Students will be thinking about shapes, their characteristics, and how to look for them in their environment, especially looking for shapes related to growing things, like trees and flowers. This helps students link their past knowledge and creates interest for the focus of the unit.
Explore. Teachers will provide students with a paper showing different shapes, especially focused on quadrilaterals, which can be problematic for students (Oberdorf & Taylor-Cox, 1999). Students will be instructed to go on a shape hunt around the classroom, working to find all the shapes on the paper. Once they find the shapes, students will draw the object they found. They will also write the number of sides for each shape, and any other attributes they notice, demonstrating their understanding of attributes that distinguish shapes. Students will share their findings in a whole group discussion. Later, they will create their own shape art, inspired by the book and the shape hunt. They may first be creative with their art, then they’ll be asked to focus their creations on a plant of some sort, like a flower or tree.
Explain. To extend learners knowledge of shapes, teachers will show the video “What are Composite Shapes” to begin talking about how some shapes are composed of other shapes. Teachers will draw composite shapes and discuss the shapes used to create them. Teachers will answer students’ questions throughout the discussion and continue to point out different attributes of the basic shapes to reiterate characteristics that define the shapes. This activity will extend students’ understanding of shapes and provide them with additional formal vocabulary.
Elaborate. On this day, teachers will give students access to a variety of pattern blocks and pattern block puzzles that are shaped like plants. Students will choose a puzzle and then use the patterns blocks to complete it. They will then be asked to label the puzzle with the plant parts, and explain to a peer how they know it is that plant part. After students finish their puzzles, they will be asked if they can fill in their plant puzzle in another way – such as two trapezoids instead of one hexagon. Students will be able to apply their new learning about composite shapes by observing how shapes make up other shapes and experience changes in surface temperatures. If students need a challenge, they can create pattern block puzzles for their peers to complete.
Evaluate. Learning will be assessed individually with a teacher and in pairs. First, they will work in pairs to create composite shapes with a partner and they will discuss characteristics of the shapes and describe how they are building them. Teachers will have students create composite shapes as well as other shapes from the composite shapes and ask them various questions about what the shapes were created from. Students should be able to identify different attributes of the shapes, such as the number and length of sides, perhaps starting to notice differences in angles. They should also be able to create a variety of composite shapes and identify what shapes were used to create them. Teachers will take anecdotal notes and use a checklist to assess what students learned.
Example Project 2
Title
Mirror Maze Experiment
Author
Adapted from the Unit Plan created by Taylor Spence, 2020
Grade/Grade Span
4th Grade
Summary
This unit explores the relationship between the angles of mirrors and the number of reflections shown. Students will be introduced to the idea of a mirror maze through a video which shows how difficult it is to complete the maze. Then, learners will conduct a hands-on experiment using an object, mirrors, and a protractor to see how changing the mirror’s angle affects the number of reflections of the object. Once they have completed the experiment, students will discuss their findings with peers and graph their data using bar graphs and Venn diagrams. Students will also revisit the video they watched at the beginning of the unit in order to see if they are able to give a more accurate explanation for why the maze is so difficult. Teachers will assess students’ learning through a test which involves a CER, math concepts about angles, and hypothetical changes to the experiment and what their affect could be on the number of reflections. An overview video can be found on YouTube.
DCI
- Math
- Science
Standards
Math
4.MD.C.5a: Understand that an angle is measured with reference to a circle with its center at the common endpoint of the rays, by considering the fraction of the circular arc between the points where the two rays intersect the circle.
4.MD.C.6 Measure angles in whole-number degrees using a protractor. Sketch angles of specified measure.
4.ETS2: Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society
1) Use appropriate tools and measurements to build a model.
2) Determine the effectiveness of multiple solutions to a design problem given the criteria and the constraints.
5Es
Engage. Students will begin this unit watching the Ellen Game of Games Video, called Mazed and Confused. In this video, contestants are put in a maze filled with mirrors. Their objective is to find a ball and get out of the maze. Throughout the video, contestants bump into the mirrors and find it difficult to get out. Following the video, the students will engage in a discussion about what they saw. These questions will get the students thinking about what was happening in the maze, especially why it was so difficult for them to get out. Students will also share their own experiences if they have ever been in a mirror maze. This activity generates interest in the unit while also allowing students to share prior knowledge they may have related to the topics associated with the unit.
Explore. Students will then perform an experiment about angles and reflection with mirrors. The teacher will have a variety of small objects for students to choose from that can be reflected in a small mirror. These objects might include a small toy car or a figurine. Students will also select 2 mirrors and a protractor to use during the experiment. Students will be instructed to set the mirrors up like they were in the video (see project overview video) they had watched. They will place the protractor underneath the mirrors and adjust the mirrors along the protractor to produce different angles. Students will create 5 angles, with the requirement that there are 2 acute and 2 obtuse angles. Then, students will place the object they chose between the mirrors and measure the number of real and reflected objects they see. They will repeat this process for each angle. Students can experience the key concept of this unit and make connections between the size of the angle and the number of reflections observed.
Explain. On this day, students will demonstrate their learning and discuss their findings from their experiment with mirrors conducted during the Engage phase of the unit. Students will be given questions to assess their basic knowledge of angles as well as questions asking them to express their findings from the experiment and graph them using bar graphs and Venn diagrams. Students will work with a partner for discussion and comparison of their data. They will also explain why the dimensions of their objects affected the amount of reflections they saw in the mirrors. This activity asks students to communicate their new knowledge and use formal language associated with angles
Elaborate. Students will revisit the mirror maze video they watched at the beginning of this unit and engage in a discussion to see if they are able to more accurately explain why the mirror maze was so difficult for the people in the video. They will also estimate what the measures of the angles of the mirrors that were in the video and identify the angles that would produce different numbers of real and reflected objects. This discussion asks students to revisit their original thinking and apply their new learning.
Evaluate. Students’ learning will be assessed through a test that asks students to discuss math and science concepts they have explored, as well as a CER for the experiment they completed. Students will be asked to discuss what they learned through the experiment and their data, math concepts related to angles, and what might happen if there were changes to the experiment (object size, flat mirrors, tools that could work instead of mirrors, etc.). This will assess students’ understanding of angles while also showing their evidence of accomplishment in the activity.
