STEM Fridays

The first 90 minutes of my day is spent with middle schoolers. I teach a combined 7/8 science class for 45 minutes which is immediately followed by math with the same students. This has been an awesome schedule because of the flexibility it offers me. If we have a lab for science I can easily steal 10 minutes (or 30) from math time. It balances out because then if we have a math project or an activity that we need more time for another day we can do that.

Friday is different though. Friday is STEM day! I launched this experiment last year to allow me a dedicated time for focusing on technology and engineering, computer coding, robotics, and other integrated projects. Last year we focused mostly on the computer science component using curriculum from Googles CS-First program. These are great tutorials that are perfect for teachers that don't have a ton of coding experience because the lesson is all built for you. We also did some 3D printing and some engineering design challenges. I'll be honest it didn't happen every Friday. Some weeks we were just behind and needed the time to finish up something from science or math, other weeks interruptions from the dreaded standardized testing kept us off track, or student absences or you name it. But despite the scheduling challenges, I felt it was really a worthwhile use of our time. So we are at it again.

This year my plans include:

Computer Science Discoveries - this is an awesome program from Code.org and I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in professional development over the summer to learn how to implement the curriculum. My goal is to complete units 1-3 of this.

More 3D printing - we didn't have as much time as I would have liked to get into this last year. I hope to utilize Tinkercad for at least a couple of projects so that students can really get a feel for 3D design and how they can use the 3D printer and the problem-solving process.

Robotics - We are starting out working with Ozobots. They will be learning to use the color codes first and then moving on to block coding with them. I am hoping to add some other robotics options if funding comes through.

Circuits - We will be using paper circuits along with Makey Makey kits for a couple of projects this year. I will introduce these with some fun activities during our STEM Fridays and then they will use them later in the year for science "museum display" projects.

I am sure I will add more to this list. I am constantly searching for ideas and learning more from other great teachers out there. Have a suggestion for an activity or a tool I should add to my STEM Friday plans? Let me know in the comments.