E30: Full STEAM ahead
03/03/22 • 50 min
Is it the hot air from a rushing locomotive, or the vapor rising from a hot cup of coffee? No, todays we're talking about S.T.E.A.M- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. How does adding art to STEM learning and education bolster a childs learning? By adding an artistic approach to standard science and math based subjects, you are integrating these subject matters with meaningful ideas and imagery that might resonate better not JUST with the students, but with the teachers as well. Join us as we discuss the merits of ease of adding art to STEM fields.
Some easy and hands on STEAM activities you can try at home or in the classroom
- Chromatography Butterflies
- Coral Reef Scultpures
- Ice Painting
- Salt Crystal art
- Materials:
- 1 Cup of Epsom Salts
- 1 Cup of water
- 1 Tsp. of Liquid Watercolors
- Glass Jar
- Directions: Mix warm water with epsom salts and stir for one minute. Add the watercolors if desired. Put your concoction into the glass jar and put the jar in the back of the refrigerator. Let the jar sit over night and when it comes out in the morning you can study the crystal formation and the colors of light reflecting.
- Painting with Balls AND Gravity
Items to help you start STEAM
- The STRAWBEES Steam starter kit
- Fort building kit
- Magnet blocks
Is it the hot air from a rushing locomotive, or the vapor rising from a hot cup of coffee? No, todays we're talking about S.T.E.A.M- Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. How does adding art to STEM learning and education bolster a childs learning? By adding an artistic approach to standard science and math based subjects, you are integrating these subject matters with meaningful ideas and imagery that might resonate better not JUST with the students, but with the teachers as well. Join us as we discuss the merits of ease of adding art to STEM fields.
Some easy and hands on STEAM activities you can try at home or in the classroom
- Chromatography Butterflies
- Coral Reef Scultpures
- Ice Painting
- Salt Crystal art
- Materials:
- 1 Cup of Epsom Salts
- 1 Cup of water
- 1 Tsp. of Liquid Watercolors
- Glass Jar
- Directions: Mix warm water with epsom salts and stir for one minute. Add the watercolors if desired. Put your concoction into the glass jar and put the jar in the back of the refrigerator. Let the jar sit over night and when it comes out in the morning you can study the crystal formation and the colors of light reflecting.
- Painting with Balls AND Gravity
Items to help you start STEAM
- The STRAWBEES Steam starter kit
- Fort building kit
- Magnet blocks
Previous Episode
E29: "Block Party!" Why Block Play is Important
Today, we are continuing our exploration of early childhood curriculum areas with block play! Research has consistently shown that block play supports the development of mathematical thinking, social skills, abstract thinking, creativity, and most recently literacy (Hanline, Milton, Phelps 2009). We go over a brief history of the unit block then we get in to the benefits. Of course, we have to do a developmental continuum break-down! We also talk about the adults role and how important it is for both the adult and the child. Block play has been shown to actually increase parent knowledge of early development in the areas of math and science education, while at the same time providing opportunities for young children to increase their math, science, social and literacy skills.
References and Resources
“Evaluate Your Block Center Around 21st Century Skills: A Checklist for Teachers" https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2015/using-blocks
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/blog/what-research-tells-us-about-block-play-and-stem-learning
https://docs.msl.mt.gov/librariesweb/documents/Ready2Read/PlaySpace/pg_rrps_stagesinblockplay.pdf
https://www.scld.org/7-stages-of-block-play-building-and-early-learning/
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/topics/blocks
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2020/rocking-and-rolling-building-new-skills-block-construction-toddler
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/mar2015/using-blocks
Next Episode
E31: PART 1 This Episode is LIT! -eriture, reading, and writing
Don't forget to leave us a review! Today, we are talking about maybe the most common and comfortable curriculum area: literacy centers. While this seems very straightforward, we wanted to break it down more so we can better focus our energies and not go into the ‘push-down curriculum' zone.
We had SO much to cover that we had to split this episode into two parts! In part one, we go over the NAEYC's position statement and then we tackle the continuum of reading and writing development.
Spencer shouts out the Planet Word Museum in DC ( https://planetwordmuseum.org/ ) and we play a super nerdy but super cool game where we try to guess the definition of some of the top rarest words! Do you know them?
Buzzsprout Affiliate Link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1783088
https://www.amazon.com/Pterodactyl-Worst-Alphabet-Book-Ever/dp/1492674311/ref=pd_bxgy_img_1/131-0869157-7909015?pd_rd_w=InNfq&pf_rd_p=6b3eefea-7b16-43e9-bc45-2e332cbf99da&pf_rd_r=4NAZFYEWMJWS17ZPNHN3&pd_rd_r=0cb2ff6a-b1fc-44a6-ac33-d491d6728729&pd_rd_wg=nhrL6&pd_rd_i=1492674311&psc=1https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/everyday-steps-reading-and-writing
http://literacy.nationaldb.org/index.php/literacy-development-continuum/
https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2017/emergent-writing
https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/read-together-support-early-literacy
http://monocolibraries.org/files/6%20early%20literacy%20skills.pdf
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/early-literacy-policy-and-practice-preschool-years
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