Southern Ivy Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 My friend is looking for a STEAM curriculum to use with her girls (ages 7 and 9...but advanced so could do something a bit older). Any suggestions? She's fine with unit studies, open and go curriculum, whatever. Just needs some ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 What does STEAM mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 ScienceTechnologyEngineeringArtsMath It's just STEM education with art thrown in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 :lol: I thought you meant a unit study on machines run with steam and some vintage science fiction novels. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 :lol: I thought you meant a unit study on machines run with steam and some vintage science fiction novels. Which would be very interesting! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 :lol: I thought you meant a unit study on machines run with steam and some vintage science fiction novels. We've been on a steampunk kick lately, and I thought the same thing .... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 My friend is looking for a STEAM curriculum to use with her girls (ages 7 and 9...but advanced so could do something a bit older). Any suggestions? She's fine with unit studies, open and go curriculum, whatever. Just needs some ideas. Is she looking for a supplement to beef up existing school work, or for something to use for a complete elementary math and science sequence? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 Is she looking for a supplement to beef up existing school work, or for something to use for a complete elementary math and science sequence? Supplemental. I think they do BJU or Abeka, so she wants just something to add to that. Her daughters love experiments, building, and things along those lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 If there was something like that, I would've bought it YEARS ago! :crying: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 One thing we do is to hit the thrift stores for science stuff. We go at least once a week, because we buy nearly nothing new for our family of eight. Anyhow, a lot of people buy expensive science kits, never use them, and donate them to the thrift store. This week we scored another Smithsonian kit for $5. So, that's one option. I'm a big believer in doing handicrafts with children. I think it's an excellent preparation for STEAM careers, and helps boost self confidence and feelings of satisfaction. There's all sorts of things that require elements of design and arts... cross stitching, knitting, quilling, sewing, quilting, weaving, woodworking, leatherworking, beading, calligraphy, etc. And then of course the arts like painting, sketching, sculpture. I like to have my kids spend time on code.org for their computer science. STEAM can cover so many things! Sorry I can't point to anything more specific and concise that would supplement in those areas. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 If there was something like that, I would've bought it YEARS ago! :crying: That's kinda what I was thinking. I haven't seen anything in all my looking. :( 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 One thing we do is to hit the thrift stores for science stuff. We go at least once a week, because we buy nearly nothing new for our family of eight. Anyhow, a lot of people buy expensive science kits, never use them, and donate them to the thrift store. This week we scored another Smithsonian kit for $5. So, that's one option. I'm a big believer in doing handicrafts with children. I think it's an excellent preparation for STEAM careers, and helps boost self confidence and feelings of satisfaction. There's all sorts of things that require elements of design and arts... cross stitching, knitting, quilling, sewing, quilting, weaving, woodworking, leatherworking, beading, calligraphy, etc. And then of course the arts like painting, sketching, sculpture. I like to have my kids spend time on code.org for their computer science. STEAM can cover so many things! Sorry I can't point to anything more specific and concise that would supplement in those areas. This does help and will probably give her a bit more direction. I'll mention these to her. I know she's doing projects and stuff now, but with a new baby and a 2 year old, I think she's overwhelmed and wanting a magic solution. (I don't blame her.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Maybe she just needs a good pile of project books? Something like these... The Art of Tinkering 62 Projects to Make With a Dead Computer Make: Tinkering Backyard Ballistics Funky Junk These are just starters - there are a ton of other options that might be better for various ages or interests... and libraries often have a good selection of art, making, electronics, and idea books too. I find that having stuff like this around inspires my kids, even if not always to do the project in the book, but to get into the idea of another project. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 For the "T" and "E", you can check out my list of resources for getting started in electronics. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Maybe she could add kiwi crates to what she's already doing. http://www.kiwicrate.com 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peaceful Isle Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Maybe she could add kiwi crates to what she's already doing. http://www.kiwicrate.com My son uses the tinker crate and loves it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 For E: https://www.teachengineering.org/ I believe it's free. I haven't had a chance to look into it. ETA: There's also this. http://www.eie.org/engineering-everywhere/curriculum-units I haven't had a chance to look into this one yet either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rush Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 For E: https://www.teachengineering.org/ I believe it's free. I haven't had a chance to look into it. ETA: There's also this. http://www.eie.org/engineering-everywhere/curriculum-units I haven't had a chance to look into this one yet either. Wonderful! Thank you very much! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 These are great! Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 (edited) For coding, the older one might play around on Scratch. Building toy: Zometool Lego simple machines Edited February 6, 2016 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopmom Posted February 6, 2016 Share Posted February 6, 2016 Snap circuits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlight Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 LittleBits are fun. Squishy Circuits. Makey Makey. None of these are curriculums, but there are lots of projects to be made exploring these STEAM based items. LEGO WeDo for that age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arliemaria Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Check out the inexpensive, but very impressive lego compatible robot www.meetedison.com The website has a free 10 unit lesson plan. Edison also has free drag/drop interface program software, activity mat, bar codes and more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I like Meredith Martin's STEAM Pinterest board https://www.pinterest.com/yfandes/edu-steam/ for project ideas and inspiration. The Exploratorium Tinkering Studio also has some good projects, along with a book The Art of Tinkering. I took a MOOC from them two summers ago and it was excellent. Erica in OR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrousel Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I've also been looking for this without success. I find timber doodle packages inspiring when I look, but not quite fitting the bill. They do have neat kits for art, logic puzzles, and technology in their curriculums. Thanks for starting the thread, spending my screen time today browsing the links! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Incorporate art by natural methods. If they study cells (or almost anything) make a model of playdoh or clay, or paint a model picture. eie units as listed above are comprehensive but $. I think of art aspect to mean demonstration or exploration of stem besides writing or oral methods. For instance, physics can incorporate drawing a design before building a machine or used to document afterwards. Nature studies with drawings are an obvious choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted April 1, 2016 Share Posted April 1, 2016 I know I am late to this party, but for future reference, this site is a great STEAM resource: http://steampoweredclassroom.com/ There is a resource guide, a blog, book reviews, and lots of other stuff! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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