Tips for Incorporating Engaging Middle Level STEAM Lessons

STEAM is a hot topic in education, driven by the competitive nature of our global economy. How can we as educators prepare students for careers that do not yet exist? We are knee-deep in the technological revolution and our duty is to prepare students to not only keep their heads above water, but to swim.

Our students will be required to enter the world carrying a complex toolkit of both hard and soft skills. Risk-taking, collaboration, resilience, and creativity are skills students will need no matter the field they pursue. STEAM-based lessons are part of the solution to this enigma; they require students to think critically, problem-solve, and use creativity.

STEAM isn’t about teaching isolated subjects; it’s designed to be interdisciplinary and reflective of how the world works outside the classroom walls. Educators in any discipline can, and should, incorporate STEAM-based lessons on a regular basis. This article explains what STEAM is, why it is important, explains how to spot a well-developed lesson, and provides tips for successfully implementing these lessons at the middle level.

What is STEAM Exactly, and Why Does it Matter?

The transition from STEM to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) began nearly two decades ago. A variety of humanities-based topics, such as visual arts, design, music, and language, were integrated into the traditional, stand-alone concepts.

Bringing the arts into a logical, systematic framework helps students visualize and problem-solve in more innovative ways than ever before. It challenges students to think outside the box, collaborate, and communicate findings on explicit math or engineering concepts more clearly and concisely. These professional skills will help students thrive in their future workplace.

How to Spot a Worthy STEAM Lesson

Selecting a quality STEAM lesson requires a bit of scrutiny and evaluation, so use these tips when looking for a meaningful lesson for your students.

Let Kids Get Messy

Regardless of the discipline, a good STEAM lesson has a wide variety of materials for students to engage with. The list of materials is typically included at the top of a lesson, so peruse it to determine if the materials are available and safe to use within your educational setting. Hands-on experiences, when done properly, can be the most motivating method of learning and help students remember key concepts they discover.

Does It Fuel Curiosity?

A worthy STEAM lesson will tap into students’ natural curiosity. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is this topic interesting and relatable to my students’ age group?
• Does this topic prompt further inquiry and exploration?
• What quirky or mysterious components surround this topic or phenomenon?

A STEAM lesson with these elements will help fuel your students’ intrinsic curiosity, so bring them to light at the start of class and highlight them throughout the lesson.

Student Choice

Does this STEAM lesson provide room for student choice? Guided student choice is a necessary component of a meaningful STEAM challenge. A quality STEAM lesson is open-ended and provides flexibility. It encourages students to make choices within the materials available to them based on their standards-driven testable hypotheses.

Rigor

A true STEAM challenge will require students to navigate multiple science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics standards. STEAM is interdisciplinary and should challenge students to integrate a technical standard with a humanities-based standard. For example, students may present their findings on convection currents through improvisation or debate an environmental topic through Socratic seminar dialogue. The conclusion of a STEAM challenge should include opportunities for students to reflect on their learning, the process, and their collaboration.

Collaboration

A meaningful STEAM challenge must offer students the opportunity to collaborate with others. Within the realm of STEAM, students will be asked at various points to engage in problem-solving and critical thinking. While it is important to have independent time to brainstorm, research, and create solutions, sharing observations, exchanging ideas, and providing one another with constructive feedback are what foster the growth of the entire team.

Productive Struggle

STEAM challenges should be grounded in project-based learning. This means that students will identify a problem, research, seek potential solutions, collaborate, create, test, fail, adjust, and test again. What separates a good STEAM challenge from a typical classroom science or engineering experiment is the opportunity for students to create their own solutions based on their research. These prototypes may be successful or they may fail. It is imperative that students recognize that this is part of the productive struggle process.

Classroom science experiments used to require that students follow a set of directions to complete an exercise in which everyone landed, or should have landed, on the same result. However, today’s STEAM challenges require students to try something original, and if it doesn’t work, to collaborate and try again. This aspect of learning shows students the value of grit and determination: some of the necessary soft skills the workforce of the future will require of our students.

Middle Level Considerations for STEAM

If you’ve ever worked with middle school or junior high students, you know that adolescents can be a fickle bunch at times. Hormonal and emotional changes, social pressures, and impulsivity can create some inconsistencies in how students act. How kids are perceived by their peers is often a top priority for many. With this said, you should set norms and expectations for students early on using these tips:

• Explain what the STEAM process looks like and how everyone’s ideas have merit and must be considered without ridicule or mockery.
• Model conversations to demonstrate how students can build from one another’s ideas, politely explain why someone’s idea may not work, or how to tactfully advocate for themselves if their group is not including them.
• Similarly, keep in mind how you group students when sharing ideas or building. Avoid randomly assigning groups or allowing students to choose their own partners. Take time to evaluate personalities, students’ background knowledge, and their social skills. Embarking on a STEAM adventure will induce some level of vulnerability for students, so it is imperative that kids feel uninhibited and safe to experiment.
• Finally, keep it real. Middle level kids want to see how their work relates to the world. Show them thought-provoking videos, discuss real-world problems, explain why they should care, and how they can make a difference. Bring authenticity to your STEAM lessons, and the kids’ ingenuity will surprise you.

A Final Thought

Remember, tapping into students’ intrinsic curiosity is the foundational heart of learning—especially in STEAM. Ask probing questions, challenge students to blend their ideas to solve problems and share information. Most of all, encourage students to persevere. Failure means that they are trying something innovative and that success is just around the corner!

Program Spotlight: Smithsonian STEAM Readers, Lessons and Challenges

Finding comprehensive STEAM materials can be a struggle for busy intermediate and middle school teachers. Searching the web can often result in a counterproductive planning period. A readily available resource is Teacher Created Materials’ Smithsonian STEAM Readers.

Smithsonian STEAM Readers offers students the opportunity to engage with a variety of nonfiction texts provided through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. Teachers have access to extensive lesson plans aligned with multiple STEAM-based standards, each featuring its own meaningful and rigorous STEAM challenge. These project-based challenges not only foster creativity and collaboration but also prepare students as they navigate their way into the world of secondary education and beyond!