Blog - i Heart STEAM

Outdoor Classroom Design

Outdoor classroom design has become a popular aspect for many schools and classrooms. What's the best way to design outdoor classrooms? How do you fund them? How do you use them? What benefits do they have?Let me break it down for you... and give you my one hardcore opinion about the whole concept.Outdoor Classroom BenefitsOutdoor classroom benefits come in abundance when you have an area for it. Students need to get out of the four walls. Period. Creativity and curiosity are fostered through exploration. There are schools in heavily populated cities that do not have access to an on-site area for growing and exploration. Land-locked schools have this problem, too, but being outside is being outside. The best part about outdoor ... read more

Camping Science

Camping science sounds like fun to me! How in the world can we teach camping science in the classroom or virtually? Teachers are creative and this activity in STEAM certainly proves so. I began researching multiple ways that science and STEM/STEAM can be taught when camping, and thought, "I want to bring this to the classroom!" Currently, we are virtually learning so that puts a slight snag in the plan, but did it stop us, NO!!!Camping Science ActivitiesThe key to bringing camping into the classroom is creating the atmosphere through a themed day. Camping science and STEAM need background information. Believe it or not, we all not campers. Many of our students have never camped and rarely get out into nature. Build up some hype by ... read more

Summer STEM Activities

Summer STEM activities and project-based learning are great for keeping the summer exciting. I know... yeah right. Really, students, kids at home, families need something to focus on. I have two projects for this summer that will have student and families at home excited and having fun throughout the summer. What are they? Composting and growing a pollinator garden.Summer STEM Activities for Elementary StudentsI want to show you how you can send your students off with some actual reading assignments and projects that just might get them to actually do a little work without realizing it. First, you need to create the hype. I would choose one of these activities rather than both, but you are driving the wheel so whatever floats your ... read more

Space STEM

Meet Neil DeGrasse TysonSpace STEM activities are out of this world. If you haven't asked your students this spacey question yet,"Who is Neil DeGrasse Tyson?".... you need to right away! I can't believe I just recently became aware of this wonderfully extraordinary human being. You know how you get asked, "If you could spend a day with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be?" This is my pick.... 100%! Neil has this Morgan Freeman way of speaking about the Universe. He is an astrophysicist that has been giving lectures since the age of 14, but I completely understand him! He has this wonderful ability to take data analysis on the audience he is speaking to so that his message is captivating. Children and students of all ages will ... read more

STEM for Kindergarten

Each year I have the task of introducing the elements of STEAM learning to a new group of Kindergartners. As many of you know, the first few months of Kindergarten can be well...... interesting. Is that the right word? There are so many foundations and routines that need to put into place before these sweeties are ready to understand something like the elements of STEAM in Kindergarten. The best part about teaching Kindergartners is their ability to soak up information like sponges, ask questions, and be amazed by what you bring to them. The biggest challenge.... the "squirrel syndrome."When is the best time to introduce Kindergarten STEAM?My colleagues and I have discovered that somewhere around the end of September in a regular ... read more

Literature Based STEM Activities: The Girl Who Thought in Pictures

Literature based STEM activities are seriously how I love to begin any STEM/STEAM lesson. iHeartSTEAM Stories is a new creation of mine. The first edition to this series is Temple Grandin. Why should we teach students about her? Temple Grandin is one of the most unique people I have ever learned about. Temple was diagnosed with autism at an early age. She was born in 1947, and at that time, not much was known about the mind of autistic people and how they learned. Temple's mother was determined for her daughter to get the education that she deserved. STEM Literature ConnectionsTemple is the perfect person to introduce into the classroom to educate our students about autism. She is a wonderful speaker and thinker. Her dedication ... read more