STEM Lesson Essentials, Grades 3-8: Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

"STEM Lesson Essentials moves beyond the rhetoric and provides knowledge, tools, models, and examples that make STEM a reality of teaching and learning in classrooms."
—Rodger Bybee, Executive Director (Retired), Biological Sciences Curriculum Study

Want to know how to implement authentic STEM teaching and learning into your classroom? STEM Lesson Essentials provides all the tools and strategies you’ll need to design integrated, interdisciplinary STEM lessons and units that are relevant and exciting to your students. With clear definitions of both STEM and STEM literacy, the authors argue that STEM in itself is not a curriculum, but rather a way of organizing and delivering instruction by weaving the four disciplines together in intentional ways. Rather than adding two new subjects to the curriculum, the engineering and technology practices can instead be blended into existing math and science lessons in ways that engage students and help them master 21^st century skills.

STEM Lesson Essentials shows teachers how to begin the STEM integration journey with:

• five guiding principles for effective STEM instruction
• classroom examples of what these principles look like in action
• sample activities that put all four STEM fields into practice
• lesson planning templates for STEM units.

Explicit connections are made among the STEM practices, including the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice and the Framework for K-12 Science Education, helping you easily recognize ways in which STEM lessons can engage students in multiple standards at the same time.

With ideas that are practical and achievable in any classroom, STEM Lesson Essentials will give you the confidence and knowledge to weave engineering and technology concepts into your math and science curriculum. STEM teaching doesn’t have to be hard. You just have to get started. Try it out with STEM Lesson Essentials, and watch student understanding, achievement, and motivation soar.

Jo Anne Vasquez, Ph.D. is Vice President and Program Director of Arizona Transition Years' Teacher and Curriculum STEM Initiatives at the Helios Education Foundation. Jo Anne has been a classroom teacher, district science specialist for Mesa Public Schools, adjunct professor of science education at Arizona State University, and director of professional development and outreach for ASU's Center for Research on Education in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology (CRESMET). A recognized leader in science education, Jo Anne is a Past President of NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), and the National Science Education Leadership Association. She was a Presidential Appointee to the National Science Board, as well as the first and only K-12 educator elected to the governing board of the National Science Foundation. Her distinguished service and extraordinary contributions to the advancement of science education at the local, state and national levels has won her numerous awards including NSTA's highest award, the 2006 Robert H. Carlton Award for Leadership in Science Education. She has been named Arizona's Outstanding Educator of the Year and the National Environmental Association's Teacher of the Year.

Michael Comer's dedication to teaching was fostered by his early experiences at Assumption School in Peekskill NY. He carried that passion into his own professional career teaching middle school science. His work with classroom educators providing hands-on training and professional development workshops led to an invitation to work with the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia on improving their science instruction. Michael is coauthor (with Jo Anne) of Developing Visual Literacy in Science K-8 (NSTA Press). Currently he is the National Marketing Manager for STEM at McGraw-Hill and is the proud father to Brett, Toby and Elyse (who also share his passion for learning).

Dr. Cary Sneider is Associate Research Professor at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. He also consults on diverse issues in STEM education, such as youth programs at science centers, educational standards, and assessment. Cary was a contributing writer of A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council 2012), which laid the groundwork for new science standards, and is currently a member of the writing team that is implementing the Framework under the title Next Generation Science Standards. In 2011 he joined the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "The Nation's Report Card." Until 2007, Cary served as Vice President for Educator Programs at the Museum of Science in Boston, and prior to that he served as Director of Astronomy and Physics Education at the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California. He has been a recipient of the Distinguished Informal Science Education award from NSTA and in 2003 was named National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences.