STEAM Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Cross Lanes Teacher Wins Classroom Tech In CIA Competition

A Charleston area teacher has won a technology award partially sponsored by the CIA.

Tiffany Pace, a STEM educator at Cross Lanes Elementary School, was named one of the inaugural winners of the Central Intelligence Agency Mission Possible Operation Advance Technology Competition Wednesday.

The award comes with a $60,000 computer and coding lab for her Charleston classroom, as well as laptops and the choice of other STEM equipment.

Pace is one of five winners in the competition and was selected from the Southeast Region, which includes schools from Washington, D.C. to Florida, and as far west as Louisiana.

The Operation Advance Technology program aims to help improve science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) education in schools and is sponsored by the CIA and managed by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

New STEAM Center To Help Teachers Tackle Pandemic-Related Learning Loss

West Virginia K-12 teachers now have a new way to bolster their science, technology, engineering, arts and math skills in their classrooms.

During the West Virginia Board of Education’s December meeting Wednesday, board members formally recognized and celebrated the establishment of a new STEAM Technical Assistance Center, or STEAM TAC, in the state. It’s the third TAC to be launched this year with a fourth one on the way that will focus on early learning.

The two already established TACs focus on accessibility and transitions, located in Romney at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, while the other focuses on behavioral and mental health and is located at Marshall University in Huntington.

The newest STEAM TAC was developed via a partnership with West Virginia University, and it will be accessible to all teachers in the state. It will focus primarily on grades 6-8 throughout 2022 and provide professional learning for teachers.

West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Clayton Burch told board members he was excited about what will be available to students and educators. He said the STEAM TAC will help cultivate unique partnerships between STEAM experts and help to motivate students.

“Our goal is to empower educators to integrate these exercises into their classroom teaching. It’s a win-win for our West Virginia educators and students,” Burch said.

WVU’s President Gordon Gee said in a news release that the new TAC is “especially important given the obstacles so many of our students have faced during the pandemic.”

The West Virginia Department of Education says on its website that the TACs were established to address learning loss created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WVDE also says TACs will help to tackle the many challenges and risks to West Virginia students that existed before the pandemic.

Teachers who sign up with the STEAM TAC will receive tailored lesson plans, toolkits and instructional resources for free and engage in a transdisciplinary STEAM TAC classroom immersion experience that will be tailored to their grade level.

A grand opening ceremony for the media will be held at Mountaineer Middle School in Morgantown on Thursday, Dec. 9 at 1:30 p.m.

WVPB to share Science U @home

Science isn’t just a subject, it’s a way of understanding the world around us.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting is working with Science-U @home, a program of Penn State Science Outreach in the Eberly College of Science and WPSU to bring awareness of this hands on family science program. Science-U is dedicated to advancing science literacy in youth through the sharing and discovery of scientific knowledge. Our chief goals are to educate and inspire students, encourage critical thinking, and prepare them to become responsible, skilled and caring citizens, as well as capable scientists and teachers when faced with tomorrow’s challenges.

Not sure where to get started? – It’s easy!

Science U @home provides lots of hands on experiments for students in K and up, guiding you and your child scientist each step of the way.

VideoWatch the video to learn more about the experiment. (Most videos reveal the experiment results, so you may want to watch it first without your child. Watch it together after performing the experiment.)
You Will NeedA complete list of items you will need to accomplish this experiment is provided. A few experiments may require shopping or ordering items online, so you may need to plan ahead.
DirectionsStep-by-step directions for you to guide your child through each step of the experiment. Let them lead the way!
Discovery QuestionsAsk your child the discovery questions as you work through the experiment. The answers are provided, but encourage your child to think it through before giving them the explanation.
How it WorksThe science behind each experiment is fully explained.
Kid-friendly definitions for terms used in the experiment that might be unfamiliar.

Model Curiosity

How you view and talk about science influences your child’s attitudes toward science—and how he or she will approach learning science. Knowing the answer to your child’s question is not as important as your willingness to encourage their natural curiosity. Instead of “I don’t know, I was never good at science.” Try, “I’m not sure, let’s find out together!”

Encourage Questioning

Get your child talking about their ideas by asking open-ended questions such as: “What do you see?” “What do you think is happening?” “What do you think will happen next?” “How could we do it differently?” “Why is this important?” “What did you learn?” “What could we change?”

Make Observations

Learning to observe carefully is the basis of discovery. Point out things that you observe, and ask them what they see. Remind them, and yourself, to take time to use all five senses to make observations and discuss what you see.

Celebrate Mistakes

Mistakes are opportunities to learn new things! Encourage a growth-mindset by praising your child’s hard work, not their successes. Encourage them to keep working to overcome setbacks. Let them think through what they could do differently.

Summer is agreat time to start SCIENCE U @home!

Clay Center Summer Camp focus on PBS Kids SciGirls!

Camp Focuses on SciGirls! The Clay Center for the Arts and Science used the PBS Kids Sci Girls program as a basis for its Sci Girls Summer Camp.

This year the Clay Center wanted to encourage young girls’ interest in all things science. They turned to the PBS Kids Sci Girls for inspiration. SciGirls is a show for kids ages 8-12 that showcases bright, curious real tween girls putting science and engineering to work in their everyday lives. Each episode follows a different group of middle school girls, whose eagerness to find answers to their questions will inspire your children to explore the world around them and discover that science and technology are everywhere! The goal of SciGirls is nothing less than changing how millions of girls think about science, technology, engineering and math! Every girl can be a SciGirl!

At the camp the girls explored STEAM careers and the health sciences. Campers learned to how to take blood pressure and heart rate, they played a game called Guess the Diagnosis where the girls received a slip of paper with an illness and symptoms and the other girls had to guess what was wrong based on the symptoms acted out. The giggling was infectious.

Kayte Kincaid, Director of Education for the Clay Center, was enthusiastic about the new camp. “The girls are enthusiastic and our partnering with West Virginia Public Broadcasting has provided us access to great resources for our educational program.” Another PBS Kids themed camp based on Nature Cat will take place later this summer.

STEAM Contest Winners Announced

STUDENTS Rise to the Challenge

Congratulations to all those who rose to the STEAM Challenge WV. The response to this challenge was terrific. Winners were selected at random from completed entries at each grade level. It was great fun to see the pictures of students engaged in these STEAM activities. Winning classrooms will receive a cash prize to purchase technology for the classroom.

If you missed the STEAM Challenge, or would like to challenge your students next year, we are leaving the link up. STEAM Challenge WV http://wvpublic.org/steam-power-wv.

5th grade

$500.00 Prize: Ms. Blankenship at Winfield Elementary, Putnam County
$200.00 Prize: Ms. Toppings, Calhoun Middle High School, Calhoun County

5th grade Calhoun Middle Elementary School

4th grade

$500.00 Prize: Ms. Clark, West Teays Elementary, Putnam County
$200.00 Prize: Ms. Courtney Kile, Paw-Paw Elementary, Morgan County

3rd grade

$500.00 Prize: Ms. Erin White, St. Francis Central Catholic School, Monongalia County
$200.00 Prize Ms. Jennifer Smith, Bunker Hill Elementary School, Berkeley County

New STEAM Video

West Virginia Public Broadcasting has added another video to its STEAM collection on West Virginia LearningMedia. This latest video looks at Advanced Manufacturing Technicians and the opportunities in the job market.

The video explores a cooperative learning program with community colleges and Toyota Manufacturing. Also featured is the Manufacturing and Robotix program at Ben Franklin Career and Technical Center.

The learning component of the lesson has students examine truth tables as they are used in Programmable Logic Controllers. PLC’s are integral in Advanced Manufacturing. The videos are a good tool for career exploration for student from 6th grade up to the adult learner.