LET’S KEEP GOING...
In their “local council presentation” (a staged event we held in class) the students argued:
“The “waves” represent the water of the Blue Lake and is a reminder of how it connects us all to the
land of Mount Gambier – both in the past and for people living now on these lands of the Boandik
people” (The Indigenous custodians of this land).
What was most exciting as an educator was the conversations about how the elements of STEAM
education were naturally married together in the student’s learning processes – particularly the Arts and
Humanities concepts when negotiating the Maths, Science and Engineering considerations of the
design brief. For example:
• “I like the curved lines because it is like the shape of the water but also can represent how we
all start and finish being connected to the land and town of Mount Gambier. The curve of the
sculptor fits into the natural environment of the rail lands well so doesn’t stick out - is really
smooth to look at because it can be made using angles and shapes. It also reminds us that we
need to care for our environment and our nature”
• “If we used 80 meters of steel, we can divide that by 100 to make a model using 80cm of steel”.
• “We used centimeter cubes to represent and model square meters of area and worked out using
the same division in maths”.
What was most surprising about this particular project was the level of engagement that all children
exhibited – not one student questioned the importance or application of skills and understanding
required for the task! I was also impressed with how the “at standard” students seemed more willing to
take risks and try a range of strategies they hadn’t previously experienced (or had felt ready for). This
appeared to be because their peers were inviting them to do so and/ or were experiencing their own
challenges so a problem solving and modeling became a foundation for all students to negotiate.
Therefore, I had underestimated the power of peer teaching in this context as I had felt that as the
educator I needed to continually draw on the explicit conceptual learning for a task like this to be truly
successful. With careful preparation, I am definitely convinced that STEAM is a powerful education
platform.
Chelsea Cutting is a teacher from Mount Gambier, South Australia. She holds a B.Ed in Primary Education
and an M.Ed in Mathematics Education with a Primary and Early Childhood focus. A violinist for 20 years,
she has 6 years of music education experience (both classroom and instrumental) and 13 years classroom
teaching experience. You can reach Chelsea at [email protected]
Figure 7
STEAMed Magazine
19
July 2016 Edition