Future Tech STEM Project

The Technology: Then, Now and Beyond unit is one of my favorites. For this project, students first used their digital literacy skills to research reliable web sources about a technology that they think has changed the world. Students examined how the technology has affected the world for the better and, sometimes, for the worse.

The project then asked students to reflect on current technology to plan their idea of a future technology considering all the positives and negatives of this creation. Students worked in groups to develop a plan for a technology that would help the world in some way. They also created 3-D mock-ups of their product and presented their amazing innovation as a commercial! It was great to see the critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity of the students!

The 3-D Food Printer will prevent hunger across the world!

Cocoa the Cleeder feeds your pet and cleans up all its dirty mess... -- This group had a catchy jingle!

STEM and Reading with the Book Box

I am always looking for ways to collaborate with other teachers and connect student experiences across our curricula. This year, the science teacher at my school and I were able to connect our very different units: circuits and electricity with visualizing and determining importance in a text.

The project, The Book Box, asked students to create a diorama of an important scene from their reading books and use a Christmas light connected to a battery to emphasize an important part of the scene. The projects were amazing! My school also has a Fab Lab maker space, and students worked in the Fab Lab to build their items and even 3-D print props!

This is definitely a project that I look forward to for next year!

An opening scene from The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen.

An important scene from Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.