West Pelzer Elementary STEM Action PlAN 2016-2017 West Pelzer Elementary

Big Ideas To have more engaging activities and involve students in STEM activities

Goals and objectives Our objective is for students to have opportunities for increased: Teamwork and collaboration Higher level thinking skills Problem solving and creativity

Timeline Each grade level will complete one STEM unit in the Fall and Spring using the STEM lesson plan format Grade level chair will be designated for STEM responsibilities (August 2016) STEM unit lesson plans completed by (September 2016) Fall unit completed (December 2016) STEM unit lesson plans completed by (February 2017) Spring unit completed (May 2017) Staff meeting/ STEM reflection (June 2017)

Assessments Assessment tools will be grade level appropriate and applicable to specific units. Performance Based Assessments Journals Written Reflections

Resources Lesson plans written Resources gathered/purchased FOSS/HTC/Delta kits, LEGOs, other separately purchased supplies

Learning experiences Example Units Kindergarten Ladybug Habitats First Grade Force/Motion, LEGOs, Construction Blocks Second Grade Magnets, Pinball Machines Third Grade Electricity, Electric City Project Fourth Grade Weather, Weather Stations Fifth Grade Force/Motion, Jet Toy, Ecosystems

Example Electric city- 3rd grade Teamwork and Collaboration Higher level thinking skills Problem solving and creativity Strategies used to meet the objectives: Work in pairs to build a simple circuit, each class collaboratively decided on a different element and building within a city, create and design buildings in pairs following a rubric, city was then designed incorporating aesthetics and required working motor and buzzer, test all components implemented, create student presentations discussing all elements of the city which was then shared with another grade level for city competition, the winning classes’ presentation went on to be shown district-wide for further competition