STEM to STEAM to STREAM?

 Someone I know has a pet peeve about the acronyms I will use in the title of this week's blog post. This individual complains that if we add too many elements to STEM, it dilutes the original purpose of combining Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

At the risk of provoking ire, I wanted to play with this idea a bit.

I've often seen the A added to indicate the Arts - in my mind, purposeful, aesthetic designs can help STEM projects find mass appeal. I searched for a more official rationale, and the AI-generated answer cited this website as fodder for its response. According to Griddly Kids (which is a seller of STEM and STEAM toys and activities, so not necessarily an academic reference):

The rationale behind adding the arts to STEM lies in the way art impacts cognitive development. Studies show that activities like drawing, painting, and music can enhance brain functions, including memory, attention, and spatial-temporal skills. These skills are incredibly valuable in STEM fields where complex problem-solving and innovative thinking are required.

Moreover, the arts encourage students to explore their curiosity and express themselves uniquely, which can lead to more profound and original scientific inquiries and technological advancements.

Other reasons for the A include these I found:

• Discovery Education says "By adding the “A” (the Arts) to STEM, we can infuse creativity throughout the S-T-E-M and create a new way to look at STEM disciplines that girls can connect with and fully enjoy. It will also spark girls’ curiosity and show them how they can use STEM skills in areas they may not have considered before.
• an Edutopia article said the A was added in 2006 by Georgette Yakman and it's about creativity
• on RedDotBlog, they list research findings from a 2022 study that suggests arts and sciences should intertwine
• KidSparkEducation (another vendor) lists 4 reasons for including the arts
• 
  

I've even seen R added to the acronym. The R stands for Reading (or, as I've heard it, Research). This could be integrated into the science portion of the acronym, but I want to talk about how my recent lesson on research skills (hopefully) helped our STEM project.

The Challenge

In STEM this school year, we've been exploring a lot with the new Chomp Saw. We learned how to operate it safely, and the primary division students and I undertook two simple mini-projects: creating the first letter of our names and demonstrating how to connect cardboard without glue or tape. All of this is leading up to our STEM challenge: to use the Chomp Saw (technology) to design a "pigloo" (engineering) that will fit in the cage (math) for our pet skinny pigs to use and enjoy (science). 

The Research 

The science involves strong and stable structures, but it also involves understanding what is safe for the skinny pigs. I used our school's virtual library to pull a couple of articles from the databases and digital  encyclopedias we have access to in order to learn more about the animals we are trying to consider in our designs.

Dot jot or point form notes is a particular skill that many students don't have a lot of experience with creating. It's a useful technique to know and teacher-librarians are uniquely positioned to teach it.

I designed a graphic organizer for us to use so that together, we could gather notes for the project.

It was important to me that students not just copy down everything they read without question. That's why the right-side column is dedicated to our thoughts about the information we read. If we want to promote critical thinking, we must set up conditions that allow students to wonder and question. 

One of the students asked, "Don't you already know lots about skinny pigs?" I replied that we can always learn more. We learn more by reading (or research) and we can learn more through scientific observation. For instance, I tried out a bigger, roomier plastic shelter for the guinea pigs at school this week. They shunned it in favour of their smaller, more opaque habitat. All of the skinny pigs lately have been dragging their sleep sacks to act as doors or carpets for their hideouts; I hope the students notice this behaviour and consider it when they design their own cardboard creations. 

I'm excited to share photos of the students' designs and builds when they are done. Whatever we call this period, it's an educational time together.