Grade 1 • STEM Event Guidance

Grade 1 Science

STEM Event Guidance

Introduction

Are you, the school, or the school's PTA thinking about planning and hosting a Science Night, Science Fair, or STEM event? 

The Howard County Public School System's Elementary Science Office encourages schools to plan and host STEM events - structured as day or night events - rather than a traditional Science Fair. This page can be used to help support community members in collaboration with school staff in the planning of a STEM event. 

Getting Started

Before any planning of a STEM event takes place, a school staff or community member should be identified to serve as the STEM Event Coordinator. In order to implement an effective STEM event, the Elementary Science Office strongly encourages a STEM Team/Committee that consists of multiple staff members representing a variety of grades and/or roles, as well as family/community participants.

If your child's school has previously hosted a more traditional science fair, the STEM Event Coordinator and/or team should plan to meet with the PTA and the school administrator to discuss the transition to a STEM event. 

Student Engagement

Before, during, and after a STEM event, the focus should be on engaging children in the Science and Engineering Practices and/or the Engineering Design Process. This engagement is an extension and reinforcement of what students see, hear, and do during science instruction. 

During science students practice thinking and acting like scientists by using the Science Engineering Practices. Students will:

  • Ask questions and define problems,
  • Develop and use models,
  • Plan and carry out investigations,
  • Analyze and interpret data,
  • Use mathematical and computational thinking,
  • Construct explanations and design solutions,
  • Engage in argument from evidence, and
  • Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information.

image of Science and Engineering Practices

 

image of Engineering Design Process (EDP) 

Students will also have opportunities to practice working as student engineers. They will engage in elements of an Engineering Design Process (EDP):

  • Ask
  • Imagine
  • Plan
  • Create and Test
  • Improve

 

WHY NOT THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD?

Typically, when families and educators hear the term “Science Fair,” we think of trifold presentation boards and students presenting their projects that have followed the scientific method. As we progress towards deeper implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the HCPSS Elementary Science Office is encouraging a shift away from traditional science fairs and towards implementation of STEM events. STEM events provide the opportunity to focus on investigations and projects centered around the Science and Engineering Practices instead of a single, linear scientific process.

For more information on why we are shifting away from the scientific method, read the Science News for Students article, "Problems with the 'scientific method'" Links to an external site.

 

Why Science & Engineering Practices?

“Engaging in the practices of science helps students understand how scientific knowledge develops; such direct involvement gives them an appreciation of the wide range of approaches that are used to investigate, model, and explain the world. Engaging in the practices of engineering likewise helps students understand the work of engineers, as well as the links between engineering and science. Participation in these practices also helps students form an understanding of the crosscutting concepts and disciplinary ideas of science and engineering; moreover, it makes students’ knowledge more meaningful and embeds it more deeply into their worldview.”

From: A Framework for K-12 Science Education, p. 42

“Although there is no universal agreement about teaching 
the nature of science, there is a strong consensus about characteristics of the scientific enterprise that should be understood by an educated citizen [41-43]. For example, the notion that there is a single scientific method of observation, hypothesis, deduction, and conclusion—a myth perpetuated to this day by many textbooks—is fundamentally wrong [44]. Scientists do use deductive reasoning, but they also search for patterns, classify different objects, make generalizations from repeated observations, and engage in a process of making inferences as to what might be the best explanation. Thus the picture of scientific reasoning is richer, more complex, and more diverse than the image of a linear and unitary scientific method would suggest [45]. What engages all scientists, however, is a process of critique and argumentation. Because they examine each other’s ideas and look for flaws, controversy and debate among scientists are normal occurrences, neither exceptional nor extraordinary.”

From: A Framework for K-12 Science Education, p. 78

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Download the STEM Teaching Tool #32 Links to an external site. "Why Focus on Science and Engineering Practices - and not 'inquiry?' Why is 'the scientific method' mistaken?"

 

 

 

 

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