CUR113:

STEAM: Enhancing STEM Education with the Arts

Course Description:

This course provides educators with the tools and insights necessary to enhance STEM-related learning outcomes by integrating a wide variety of art activities. Children benefit from a rich curriculum that

supports critical thinking, encourages the use of the scientific method, and integrates mathematical thinking. In early childhood and out-of-school environments, art activities provide an excellent platform for introducing STEM concepts and developing STEM-related skills.

Course Objectives:

By taking notes on the handout provided in this course and successfully answering assessment questions, participants will meet the following objectives as a result of taking this course:

• Define STEM • Identify essential aspects of scientific inquiry, technology, engineering, and math in relation

to early learning • Identify skills and personal characteristics that are important for future success in

STEM-related jobs • Recognize the effects of gender bias in STEM-related professions and ways to discourage

gender bias in the STEM learning environment

• Identify the importance of open-ended and process-focused art experiences • Identify strategies for incorporating STEM learning into a full range of art activities • Identify strategies for incorporating STEM-related language into art activities and daily

routines when providing instructions, information, and feedback to children References:

1. Bongiorno, L. (2014). “How Process-Focused Art Experiences Support Preschoolers.” Retrieved

from http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/process-art-experiences 2. Cole, K., et al. (2019). “Building a Gender-Balanced Workforce: Supporting Male Teachers.”

Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/sept2019/building-gender-balanced-workforce-supporting-male-teachers

3. CR-T. (2020). “Most Wanted IT Traits: 12 Traits of Top IT Professionals.” Retrieved from https://cr-t.com/blog/most-wanted-it-traits-12-traits-of-top-it-professionals/

4. Duncan, G. J., et al. (2007). “School Readiness and Later Achievement.” Developmental

psychology, 43(6), 1428–1446. Retrieved from

https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/dev-4361428.pdf 5. Emporia State University. (2021). “Careers Pathways by Major.” Retrieved from

https://www.emporia.edu/alumni-careers/career-services/student-services/career-snapshots/ 6. Funk, C. & Parker, K. (2018). “Women and Men in STEM Often at Odds Over Workplace

Equity.” Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/01/09/women-and-men-in-stem-often-at-odds-over-workplace-equity/

7. Geist, E. (2021). “Support Math Readiness through Math Talk.” NAEYC. Retrieved from

https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-math-readiness-through-math-talk 8. Herr, J. (2020). Working with Young Children, 9th edition. Goodheart-Willcox. 9. Science Buddies. (2021). “Steps of the Scientific Method.” Retrieved from

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/steps-of-the-scientific-method

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10. Men Teach. (2019). “Data about Men Teachers.” Retrieved from http://www.menteach.org/resources/data_about_men_teachers

11. Morrison, G., Woika, M.J., & Breffni, L. (2020). Fundamentals of Early Childhood Education, 9th edition. Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.

12. Northern Illinois University. (2021). “Math Matters for Careers and Jobs.” Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/mathmatters/careers-jobs/index.shtml

13. Raupp, A. (2018). “Moving Target: Preparing Today’s Minds for the STEM Jobs of Tomorrow.” Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/11/08/moving-target-preparing-todays-minds-for-the-stem-jobs-of-tomorrow/?sh=a7dc890e1477

14. U.S. Department of Commerce. (2017). “Women in STEM: 2017 Update.” Retrieved from https://www.spglobal.com/_media/documents/women-in-stem-2017-update.pdf

15. Wagner, C. (2011). “70 Jobs for 2030 – World Future Society.” Retrieved from https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/29042355/70-jobs-for-2030-world-future-society

What is STEM?

Use the space provided to record important information.

Science

Define science:

Life Science

Physical Science

Earth Science

Some types of science:

Agricultural science

Archaeology Astronomy Astrophysics Biophysics

Biotechnology Botany Ecology Entomology Evolutionary biology

Genetics Immunology Marine biology Microbiology Mycology

Neuroscience Paleontology Pathology Pharmacology Physiology

Biochemistry Inorganic chemistry

Organic chemistry

Cognitive science

Geology

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Glaciology Hydrology Meteorology Mineralogy Oceanography

Seismology Volcanology Computer science

Medical science Physics

Anthropology Ethnology Criminology Geography Zoology

Scientific method:

Technology

Various personal and professional characteristics are necessary for success in the technology field.

In "Most Wanted IT Traits: 12 Traits of Top IT Professionals" an article published by CR-T, the following skills are described:

1. They think outside-the-box. IT workers are creative problem-solvers. 2. They are adaptable. The IT landscape is ever-changing and evolving. 3. They love to learn. Technology constantly evolves, so IT professionals are continuously

learning. 4. They are team players. Most IT problems require input from people with different skills and

experience.

5. They can speak both techie and non-techie. Successful IT pros can communicate effectively with people who do not share their technical knowledge.

Engineering

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Mathematics

While in school, children build mathematical skills in the following areas:

number concepts:

number operations:

geometry and spatial concepts:

measurement:

patterns:

The Societal Considerations Surrounding STEM

Women in the STEM Fields

Gender bias -

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What is Art?

Define art:

Are Your "Art" Activities Really Art?

Open-ended art experiences:

Process art experiences:

Art as a STEM Teaching Tool

Painting

Children could also:

Create paint using different recipes and decide which paint works best for different purposes.

Paint using the paint program on a computer and compare the process to painting on canvas.

Take paint outdoors to see if there is a difference between painting outdoors and indoors.

Paint with a variety of tools and create a chart of the best and worst painting tools.

Poll the other children in the school about their favorite painting style and then represent their

findings on a graph.

Drawing

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Children can also:

Illustrate books about science themes, such as outer space or recycling.

Create a comic book about a superhero that saves the planet.

Draw chalk circles around puddles on the playground, then observe what happens to the puddle as

evaporation occurs.

Draw maps of their classroom, school, park, town, etc.

Design new products that solve some of their most pressing problems.

Create a unique currency for the dramatic play area. The children can create many similar props.

Make crayons out of broken crayon pieces. This activity can be done on a hot day in the sun or an oven. Children can predict how the experiment will end, then compare the results and the time it took to complete each process.

Drawing as Documentation.

Topics children can document through their drawings or artwork:

Weather concepts such as cloud formations and changes in the seasons.

The life cycle changes that occur in plants (from seed to flower) and classroom pets, such as tadpoles

or butterflies.

Differences in objects either in two different objects or differences that occur from one day to the next,

such as placing a carnation in water with a few drops of food coloring.

Texture rubbings of nature items, such as bark on different trees.

Photography

Children can also:

Explore objects from different perspectives; top-down, from underneath, from the side, from far away,

close-up, etc.

Create games to challenge their peers to guess what objects are captured in a series of close-up pictures. Create graphs to document the results of the guesses.

Look for shapes, patterns, numbers, and quantities in the environment, take pictures of these and

create a math book for younger children to explore.

Plan and set up an art gallery as a fundraiser for a charity of their choice. Invite families to the open house and auction off the pieces.

Ceramics

Children can also:

Make a wide variety of homemade dough recipes, identify each recipe's characteristics, vote for a favorite, and document the results in a visual format.

Use items from the environment (shells, textured blocks, sticks) to create clay pressings. These

pressings can be used to create a matching game requiring children to use their powers of observation to match the object with the pressing.

Make predictions about how long it will take for different sizes and shapes of clay to dry out

completely. Teachers can help children construct this experiment from beginning to end.

Create miniature replicas of their classroom, school, park, or town, using the maps they drew in the previous example.

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Sculpture

Children can also:

Research different types of sculpture online and create descriptions of how each piece makes them feel, or tell how they think each piece was created.

Work together on a class sculpture out of recycled materials collected from home.

Attempt to make carvings (reliefs) out of clay that represent items from nature, such as flowers or

bugs.

Measure the amount of soap shavings that result from their carving projects. Brainstorm ideas for what they could do with the leftover soap shavings. Research ideas on the internet, pick a project to conduct and share the results.

Knitting and Weaving

Sewing and Quilting

Collages and Mosaics

Beadwork

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Performance Arts

There are endless possibilities when it comes to STEM and performance arts. The children could:

Write a play about a scientist who makes amazing discoveries.

Produce and record the weather report each day to share with families and other children.

Compose and perform a song or rap about a science topic.

Put on a puppet show for younger children explaining the life cycle of a butterfly.

Create a cheer that incorporates the steps to a standard math process.

Write a song about the scientific process to help everyone remember the steps.

Culinary Arts

In addition to the clay and paint recipes we have already discussed, children can:

Grow a garden, harvest the fruits and vegetables, and create a healthy salad.

Sell extra fruits and vegetables at a local farmers′ market or set up a market for parents. The

proceeds can be donated or used to improve the garden for next year.

Bake number pretzels.

Make healthy ingredient muffins and decorate the tops.

Bake bread for a community shelter.

Woodworking

Glassblowing

STEM Language Integrated into the Arts

Giving Instructions and Guidance

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Providing Information

Providing Feedback

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STEM-Related Language Charts

Giving Instructions and Guidance:

Instead of saying: Say this:

It is time to clean up your art

materials.

Please sort your art materials into what we will

put in the scrap bin and what needs to go into

the trash.

If your painting is still wet, place it on

the windowsill.

Where do you think we could place your

painting so that it can dry?

Please come see me in the Art

Center.

Take six long steps to get to the Art Center so

you can take your turn.

You need to use two drops of glue

on each piece of paper.

Do you think it is a good idea to use a lot of

glue, a little bit of glue, or a medium amount of

glue? Why?

Stack the blocks so that they line up.

That way they will not fall over.

What do you think will happen if you stack the

blocks unevenly?

Line up in a boy, girl, boy, girl pattern. Today we are going to line up based on height

from tallest to shortest.

Sharing Information:

Instead of saying: Say this:

When you finish placing all of your

mosaic pieces, you will cover the

pieces with grout to keep them in

place.

How do you think mosaic artist make sure that

the pieces do not move when they are finished?

When you mix red and blue paint,

you get purple paint.

I wonder what would happen if we mixed a

squirt of the red paint with a spoonful of blue

paint?

Abstract art is made when the

artist paints something that

doesn’t really look like anything

else.

Tell me what you think about this painting.

The celery stalk turned orange,

which means that the stem has

soaked up the food coloring that

we put in the water.

Take a look at this celery stalk. What can you

tell me about it? Why do you think it looks like

that?

When we follow a recipe, it is

important to carefully measure and

follow all the directions precisely as

they are written. If you do not, the

food will not be delicious.

What do you think would happen if we used

more flour than the recipe called for? Do you

want to find out what would happen if we did not

follow the recipe?

When two male lions are in the same

area, they will fight to see who is the

strongest. The winner will get to stay,

and the other lion will run away.

Lions protect their hunting lands or territories.

What do you think happens when a new lion

tries to hunt in another lion’s territory?

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Providing Feedback:

Instead of saying: Say this:

That is a great castle. Good job

building it!

I notice all of these different areas in your

castle. How did you build them?

You drawing of the playground is

awesome!

Wow, you really captured all of the areas of the

playground! You paid close attention to all of the

details in your work. That is the kind of work that

engineers use when they create blueprints of the

buildings they design.

I am so proud of the work that you did

when you were working on your quilt.

I see that you made sure to measure and line

up all of the quilt squares before you started

assembling them. You are a very precise

quilter.

I love your painting; it is beautiful. You used five different colors in your painting.

What do you like best about your work?

Great work cleaning up all the

sand that was on the floor.

I watched you and Sammy work together to

clean up the sand. You worked as a team, which

is an essential skill you will use when you grow

up and get a job.

Additional STEM language to work into conversations with children:

Bigger/smaller Heavier/lighter Longer/shorter More/fewer/less First, second,

last, etc.

Balance Equal to Position words Add/Take away Closer/farther

Whole/fractions Faster/slower Thicker/thinner Observe/notice Shapes

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General List of STEM Skills

Scientific Thinking skills

Question

Hypothesis - make predictions

Experiment

Observe - use senses to take in information

Analyze results

Make conclusions

Technology skills for the future

Love to learn.

Think outside-the-box.

Be a team player.

Can communicate their ideas to others.

Use components of technology appropriately (mouse, keyboard,

touch screen, etc.).

Skills Engineers possess:

Be precise in their work.

Pay attention to details.

Focus their attention for extended periods.

Identify problems.

Think creatively about solutions.

Mathematical skills in the following areas:

Number concepts: recognizing numbers and counting.

Number operations: combining and taking apart groups of numbers.

Geometry and spatial concepts: shapes and their attributes, maps, and directions.

Measurement: determining length, size, weight, volume, etc., the concept of time.

Patterns: recognizing and creating progressively more challenging patterns.

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