STEAM college students work in labs wearing lab coats, code on computers, draw blueprints for designs and solve complex math problems on a blackboard. However, this is not how the fourth graders at Lakeside Elementary School explore STEAM.
Instead, they make apple pie.
On Feb. 26, Lakeside elementary’s STEAM Night showcased fourth graders making crafts
“I have eight different stations and each station goes with their program, which is based on the book How To Make An Apple Pie And See The World,” Lakeside STEAM teacher Meghan Hader said. “And so the activities go with that book and the events that happen in that book.”
At each station, students participated in activities combining STEAM skills and play.
“One of them is following a chain of events, which is what happens in the story, and inside for the STEM version, they create domino chain reactions,” Hader said. “Another activity is the girl has to travel across the ocean into Europe, and the kids have to make a boat to help her get there.”
This unique way of introducing elementary schoolers to STEAM ties into an integral part of STEAM: the A.
“The A stands for the art,” Lakeside Principal Gema Hall said. “I think that it opens their eyes up to different ways that you can look at engineering or mathematical concepts. You know, sometimes kids or people might say, well, ‘art belongs here.”
Incorporating art into the fourth graders’ STEAM night reinforces the value of art.
“I think that triggers another side of your brain, that artistic piece,” Hall said. “When you create something through the arts, you don’t realize that you’re using technology in a lot of ways or you’re using engineering concepts.”
Not only does the integration of art into STEAM open up a new side of kids’ brains, but makes STEAM more appealing since they are able to expand their creative thinking, especially for building things in the form of making crafts.
“I liked making the apple pie out of Play-Doh,” Fourth grader Kate Gage said. “I get to hang out with my friends but also, I get to create something new every year.”
Overall, the kids’ enthusiasm and love for learning shaped by the passion of the teachers makes the event possible.
“My favorite part of being a STEAM teacher is seeing the excitement of the kids and their creativity and hoping to foster that,” Hader said. “Most of them are very excited, and when they came in today, a lot of them ran ahead of their parents to get inside.”
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