STEAM and Makerspaces

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STEAM and Makerspaces

STEAM and preschoolers

Pumpkin Power program—stations

Weighed them named A, B, C, D and E. Is A heavier than C?, etc.

Pumpkins with tops cut off but with the insides left in for touching; Ziploc bag of pumpkin innards

Gingerbread Men

Take one bite of your cookie—now draw that body part on a piece of paper. 4 bites—4 colors

Dissolved gingerbread cookies in water.

Gingerbread playdough

State on promo materials: “Food allergens will be present.”

Mid-Continent recently instituted a food policy for children/teens—all food given out must be individually wrapped—came from a ruling by the Health Dept.

Sticky science

6 stations with various kinds of slime—some premade, some made together; recipes to take home

Sink or float activities

Leaves—Ellison cutouts, matching leaf types to  a poster; real leaves to touch

MO Dept. of Conservation–PreK curriculum—could be easily adapted to ST.

They also have trunks of materials on various themes—animal tracks; pelts/furs—can check out to use for storytime.

St. Louis Art Museum—SLAM kits with art supplies to check out

Phyllis’s Pinterest—look for Phyllis Davis with the coffee picture

Ann’s Storytime Board arandolph@stchlibrary.org

Program ideas:

Weather

Winter

Colors

Transportation

 

STEAM and elementary ages

After school curriculum will adapt well to library programs

NASA stuff online—lots of programming resources and ideas

2 ways to approach STEAM:

  1. Demonstration—for example, everyone builds a catapult to take home
  2. Science fair style—follow scientific method

Surrounded by Science: Learning Science in Informal Environments (ISBN 978-0309136747)

Best practices for teaching: self-directed; collaborative; inquiry based; each person has clearly defined roles—works best with 3rd grade through middle school

Project Manager

Materials Coordinator

Data Collector

Diplomat—gleans info from other groups

Program idea: Design a car that is safe, fast, stylish and comfortable—going to crash it to test safety; door has to open to let plastic egg in and out

Sound sandwich: http://www.exploratorium.edu/afterschool/activities/index.php?activity=137

WGBH Plum Landing—environmental curriculum  http://pbskids.org/plumlanding/

Watershed unit works with PreK age

PBS website—Fetch with Ruff Ruffman  http://pbskids.org/fetch/

Design Squad http://pbskids.org/designsquad/

Engineering is Elementary  http://www.eie.org/

 

We are informal educators! Speak classroom educators’ language to them to help them recognize this.

 

Atlas of New Librarianship   http://quartz.syr.edu/blog/?page_id=6352

 

Ellison Strawbees: http://quartz.syr.edu/blog/?page_id=6352

 

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