ARTICLES
Teaching and learning STEM in context at Belrose Public School (continued)
A key feature of the book is the use of language specific to
science, society and future scenarios, as well as the subjective
style of the narrator (Hodkinson, 2017). Students were guided
through a variety of tasks to become familiar with the elements of
the narrative text.
STEM components and syllabus integration
The project was systematically planned and programmed
to ensure outcomes from different key learning areas of the
curriculum were addressed in authentic ways. The following
table outlines elements of the project that align with both STEM
and other key learning areas.
Key learning Unit components
area
Science
Living world – animal adaptations, habitats,
environments meet organism needs. Physical
world – forces & energy in products and
systems. Chemical world – properties of
materials for design purposes.
Technology
Design Design and production – design and construct
model Mechanica-style animals. Little Bits –
electric circuits to make animal model parts
move.
Technology -
Digital Design interface for digital system; plan
and implement digital solution using visual
programming. Hummingbird Robotics and
Arudino to control movement of animal model
parts, incorporating Little Bits motors, servos
and sensors.
Use of ICT See-saw used to document the learning
process and assessment. Google classroom
to communicate with Year 9 students who
used photoshop software to develop an image
of Mechanica-style animals from the students’
text descriptions.
Engineering Standford-Design Model scaffolded the
engineering design process.
Mathematics Multiple aspects in design of the models, and
also the floor plan for the museum of unnatural
history.
English Writing a specific text genre; the purpose was
to describe in the style of a field guide entry,
whilst fitting the imaginary world of Mechanica
Creative Arts Drama sessions involved the students
understanding movements associated with
living creatures, and applying this knowledge
to their designs. The physical movements of
the animals they were going to create were
acted out.
Geography Museums / libraries around the world
were researched as a background for the
culminating display.
Aboriginal
people Parts of the Dark Emu book were used as a
way of describing to students what Aboriginal
people invented 1000’s of years ago e.g.
labour-saving fish trap
Library Students researched the journey made by
Charles Darwin
A specific example of use of ICT involved students creating a
News report employing Green Screen technology (Figure 2) as
part of the Museum theme.
Fig.2 – News report – Green Screen technology
STEM integration can be described as an inclined plane from:
the lowest disciplinary level, each subject is taught in discrete
learning areas (LAs); to multidisciplinary, a common theme
connects learning across different LAs; to interdisciplinary, the
curriculum is organised around common learning goals across
LAs; to a final transdisciplinary level, application of knowledge
and skills to solve real world problems (Vasquez, 2015). The
Mechanica project is a good example of an interdisciplinary level
project evidenced by the interconnectedness between learning
areas where the subject boundaries became blurred.
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 4