The One-Hour STEAM Challenge!

This is part 2 sharing my visit to Amazing Grace and Renton Prep Christian Schools in Seattle. These progressive project-based learning schools daily offer students opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, experimentation, revision, and producing. Today we explore the One-Hour STEAM Challenge, a project where students are challenged to create a boat that floats in one hour using supplied items.

After explaining the project, the teacher promptly set the timer for one hour and projected it on their large TV screen to keep everyone on task. Brainstorming collaboratively, students designed their project by inking with a design pen on their Surface device to plan their engineering feat. Students then selected building supplies from a range of materials: Peeps marshmallow candy, straws, plastic bottles, straws, duct tape, making tape, plastic tape, paper bags, and more. Listening to students discuss their process, they explained why they decided to use each item in their boat.

After a five minute warning to complete the project, students went to get water to fill the plastic tub where the newly-created boats will be tested to see if they float. One at a time students put their boat on the water as the teacher used a hand-held hair dryer to provide the wind that would move these devices. Will it float? The anticipation rises.

Some boats leaned to one side or the other, as students problem-solved what the designing error could be. Others floated well initially, but as their materials got saturated they began to sink further into the water. Some boats were made with plastic bottles and the air inside provided the buoyancy this project required. Students also realized that using the right type of tape could make other materials hold up in water. Expert teacher questioning led students to evaluate their construction and devise a plan for revision where needed. "Why do you think this boat leans to the left? Will it float in the wind even if it is not symmetrical? What makes you think so? Can you make an adjustment in your design that might help your boat float longer?"

I challenge each teacher to find one time space where your students could engage in a one-hour STEAM challenge. Perhaps it provides a break during testing times, or ties into a science topic. Maybe the design phase is completed during computer time or independent stations, then the building takes place during math or science, with the final testing at the end of the day. Whether the hour is in one block or divided into several shorter timeframes, your students can create to solve problems and answer challenges. Let students document their process using video or pictures which they can turn into a multimedia presentation to explain the project to parents and "the world!" And have fun!

Project-Based Learning Schools in Action!

I just returned from an invigorating visit to Amazing Grace and Renton Prep Christian Schools in Seattle. These schools involve students from PreK-10 in asking questions and devising a plan to find a solution through a process of testing and revising. By adding STEAM content (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) to traditional topics in learner-centered ways, these schools are lifted up as "bright spots...with promise for the future" in Calfee & Wilson's (2016) ground-breaking book
Assessing the Common Core: What's Gone Wrong--And How To Get Back On Track, a book I highly recommend. In the coming weeks I will address various examples I encountered as students combined the rich content areas of STEAM with innovative project-based learning pedagogy. For more information and examples of STEAM projects click here: Edutopia.org.

I begin with the youngest students and their projects. Preschool students were studying fairy tales and integrating STEAM in ways I have never seen! As they read each fairy tale they analyzed what problem the character was encountering, then brainstormed ways to help. For example, the day I was there they read The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Their teacher masterfully asked questions to help them analyze the situation: Why do the three billy goats need to cross the bridge? Who lived under the bridge? Why does this cause a problem for the three billy goats gruff? How could all the billy goats get across the river safely without anyone getting hurt? After considering these and other questions, the students decided that they could build a boat to hold all three billy goats so they could cross the stream to go up the hillside to eat, without disturbing the evil troll. So they set out to do just that. Working with a partner they gathered the allowed materials including popsicle sticks, duct tape and masking tape to build a boat that could float holding three goat figures, the required criteria. As they built they talked about what shape the boat should be to float, and how strong it needed to be to hold three goat figures. They experimented with tape to make it waterproof and sturdy. Then they put their creation in the water, placed the three animal figures on top, and tested to see if it would float. Students found multiple ways to safely get the Three Billy Goats Gruff over the bridge without disturbing the evil troll. Project-based learning in action!

During their fairy tale unit these preschoolers also assisted Cinderella in getting home from the ball after her coach turned back into a pumpkin. They decided to create a wind-powered car! Not only did these students find a solution to help a character in need, they also explored an environmental issue of global concern in creating alternative power sources to fuel transportation. After reading Rapunzel students tried to build a tower strong enough to support the prince so he could reach Rapunzel. They developed towers of various heights using newspaper & tape, then placed the prince figure on top to check its strength; design and engineering in action!

Each instance of STEAM Project-Based Learning (PBL) contained similar expectations:
(1) Teacher and students explored a fairy tale together.
(2) Teacher led students in discussing the problem.
(3) Students hypothesized solutions.
(4) They were given limited supplies and limited time to find a solution.
(5) Students collaborated to create something to solve the problem.
(6) They tested their creations against the criteria, made adjustments if needed, and retested.
(7) They captured their process using technology.
(8) They proudly shared their creations and clearly explained what they made, why they made it, and what they learned.

Are you teaching a unit where STEAM PBL could be incorporated into student-centered learning? I challenge you to try and let me know what you do! We are creating the innovative problem-solvers our global society needs now and in the future.