STEM and Next Generation Science in Kindergarten

When I first heard about the Next Generation Science Standards coming out I was worried. I had always connected both science and social studies to the topics we were covering in our reading curriculum and I was nervous about fitting in morning meeting, math centers/ guided math, Daily Five/ guided reading, snack, rest time, and play time, with a separate time for science. Don't get me wrong-- i've always done hands on science-- planting flowers, hatching butterflies, etc, but I hadn't ever had carved out specified time for it. I did a lot of reshaping of my schedule and figured out how to designate a 25 minute block of time for what I decided to call an "inquiry" period.

Carving out that 25 minutes for an inquiry period is the.best.thing.I.ever.did! And you know what else? Even though new standards in education can be scary the Next Gen standards are appropriate for 21st century learners and actually an amazing thing because they are hands on!

Next Generation Science is not a text book. Or a worksheet. Or a lecture.  It is STEM. It is real, hands on problem-solving. It is a way to teach even the smallest learners the most amazing things. Our inquiry period has ended up being one of the best parts of our day!

This week, we launched STEM in our classroom with some hands-on centers! We started by reading the book Rosie Revere Engineer which is a MUST READ for anyone doing STEM activities with their class. We talked about how we are a class of engineers-- and engineers fail all the time! The most important thing is that they don't give up-- they work hard to make their ideas better! My kids really grasped hold of this and I could see it right before my eyes as I observed them working at each STEM center.

Before we did any centers, I wanted to do a whole group challenge and observe my kids working together. For some, this was their first time working as a team to accomplish something. We talked about how we need to use our words and talk to our team members in order to accomplish a task. The question I posed to everyone was: can you build a bridge that a car can drive under? I showed them the "road" that they would have to build their bridges across and split them into teams of four! It was amazing to listen to them problem-solve together and it made me so happy that every team was able to communicate and work together to accomplish a goal!

After our whole group challenge, we began our introductory centers. I had four centers which we began on Tuesday. By Friday, all of my friends had visited each center.

Marble Mazes

This was an independent center-- I introduced this center to my friends by simply asking "can you build a maze that a marble can travel around?" My friends had so much fun at this center. I even overheard a conversation between a child who was becoming frustrated and another child who said "don't worry, engineers fail all the time. Just keep trying!"

Building Structures

When I introduced this center I asked my friends "can you look at a picture of a real-life structure and make it with blocks?" As a team they picked a structure and replicated it with a variety of different blocks. This required a LOT of teamwork-- at first a group of friends wanted to build separate things instead of working together and you know what? I didn't even have to intervene because then they said "engineers have to work together to solve problems like we did with the bridge." Amazing!

This is the "wheel shaped building set" from Oriental Trading's Learn 365

We just got a new building set and my friends were so excited to try it out! This is a "wheel shaped building set" and it was ordered through Oriental Trading's Learn 365. The kids can build so many different structures out of these pieces and it is also amazing for building fine motor skills. We will be using this a lot throughout our inquiry time. You can grab it HERE. Oriental Trading has some AMAZING STEM materials on their Learn 365 website! Check it out!

Boat Challenge

Here, my friends had to build a boat out of tin foil that would hold a certain amount of math manipulatives. The best part about this center was that they failed so many times but never, ever gave up! Each child made their boat stronger and learned from their failure. By the end, everyone was able to complete the challenge!

Introduction to Coding

This was the BEST THING I HAVE EVER GOTTEN FOR MY CLASSROOM and I will be using Colby the blue mouse for SO many things this year! This was the only center that was run by me-- and only because the coding kit was brand new. I wanted to teach my friends how to use it before I let them work on their own. We started out with the cheese super close and the kids built a code then input it on the mouse. Each time, we added to the maze (turns, etc) and moved the cheese further away. They problem solved and figured out what needed to be added or changed to get Colby to his cheese. The joy on my friends faces when they finally got the code right was priceless. It was incredible how these little ones were able to work as a team to code and this will be used in our classroom until the very last day of the school year.