This book is truly a one-stop shop for all things STEM education. It contributes a road map for teachers working together in schools or school systems, providing K–12 students with the best possible integrated STEM experiences. These experiences focus around seven salient interdisciplinary themes where teachers of social studies, mathematics, science, English language arts, technology, and information literacy synergistically work together. The road map’s lesson ideas are extremely practical and concrete, yet open-ended enough to be fluid and adaptable for different learner needs and school constraints. Specific lesson themes, design challenge ideas, and STEM content topics are given for planning STEM integration for Grades K–12. A real pleasure in reading (and using) the book is in devouring the various, creative curricular ideas.
Specific interdisciplinary units are described for each grade level, along seven realworld themes. For example, along the theme of innovation and progress, 11th-grade students delve into an investigation of building materials, use that knowledge to examine how the World Trade Center towers collapsed, and propose and prototype new and improved building materials. A Grade 1 unit focuses on the investigation of animal habitats, utilizing the theme, sustainable systems, where students learn about endangered species around the world and develop ways to help those species cope with changing habitats. Each unit is mapped to the Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core Mathematics, and Common Core Language Arts, and 21st century skills. Each unit is described in enough detail for teachers to begin planning daily lesson plans, but more importantly each unit is described in terms of how the content relates to students’ lives in compelling ways. For example, there are units on rollercoasters, motorsports, alternative energy, rooftop and window box gardens, smart phones, obesity, and natural catastrophes. All together, 63 different and uniquely creative units are described for students in Grades K–12. Two fully developed units are provided at the end of the book, complete with day-to-day lesson plans, assessments, materials lists, worksheets, and so on. The authors also provide a template teachers can use to take any of the unit descriptions and turn them into complete units as well.
Another bonus is to read about numerous STEM careers that are mapped to particular grade levels and units. For example, second-grade students get to learn about material engineers, nanotechnologists, urban planners, and environmental engineers. The challenging cognitive work of mapping school to career is already done. The authors have already thought through how activities and lessons in schools are tied to the real world and to real careers where STEM work makes a positive impact on human, environmental, and global health and safety. A chapter on assessing STEM learning and doing shows the reader how to create test items, rubrics, and use assessment results to inform changes to a curriculum. Another chapter helps the reader make STEM learning and doing accessible to culturally and linguistically diverse groups of students and shows how to tailor units to the specific life experiences of youth. In yet another chapter, professional development best practices are described from the perspective of research, but practical suggestions are offered to make district-level STEM professional development effective. Developing STEM partnerships with local industry, nonprofits, and foundations are also key, and stories of success from around the country are told in ways that can inspire members of any community. Reading this book would benefit groups of motivated teachers or school or district leaders so they could begin transforming education at the local level. The book is also ideal for university STEM education faculty, as they may be offered the opportunity to help a school or district start a STEM integration initiative. The book ably assists preservice teachers enrolled in teacher education programs because they have potential to be agents of change as they enter a school armed with new ideas based on sound research and the wisdom of these experienced editors and authors.
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