More Me Too

Just a short post to add to my earlier post on the me-too nature of STEAM. I came across a very nice set of slides on STEAM in K12 from a group of educators in Hawai’i (http://standardstoolkit.k12.hi.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/steamwebinar_pdmaterials_203.pdf). They mention one other version of STEAM: STEAM GLASS. The GLASS part of this term refers to Geography, Language Arts, Social Studies.

So, that makes this acronym the second to refer to Social Studies and the third to refer to Language Arts! I present these acronyms so that you might consider other types of integration to create holistic learning experiences at the university level. And it reminds me that I need to write a post about glass blowing…

Glass blowing at a Spanish village art center (Jon Sullivan)

Sing a Song of Science

Cello Player (Amedeo Modigliani)

Scientists have a responsibility to share their findings with the general public in a clear and compelling way. STEM graduate and undergraduate students should be taught to communicate with both scientific and general audiences. Communication of pressing environmental concerns, including climate change, is especially important. Double-majors and students from other disciplines may contribute communication skills less common among scientists.

Music can be an accessible form of communication and speaks to human emotions. Daniel Crawford, an undergraduate at the University of Minnesotta (http://www1.umn.edu/twincities/index.html), was tasked by Prof. Scott St. George (http://www.tc.umn.edu/~stgeorge/Scott_St._George/Main.html) with translating global temperature data from the Goddard Institute of Space Studies (http://www.giss.nasa.gov) into a cello piece. Crawford created this work as part of his internship in the Geography Department, demonstrating the importance of funding for undergraduate research experiences.

How about this for an assignment for your class? Each student must find creative way to express the same global temperature data. Hmm, maybe I’ll try that!

Click through for a story on the project and access to the score for A Song for Our Warming Planet: http://ensia.com/videos/a-song-of-our-warming-planet/