1. West Pelzer Elementary
STEM Action PlAN
West Pelzer Elementary

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

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

4. 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)

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

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

7. 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

8. 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