Launched 6 years ago with funding from LAEF, the Los Altos School District (LASD) STEM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is widely recognized for it’s exciting, well-integrated, student-centered projects.

Each LASD elementary school has a
•    STEM Instructional Support Teacher (IST) who works with classroom teachers to support STEM subjects, integrates STEM with cross-discipline instruction and helps design projects for students.
•    STEM lab and/or Makerspace
 

“Regardless of which career paths students eventually follow, it is important for them to see that a greater understanding of the STEM subjects can enhance their lives.”,  said Traci Buckner & Brian Boyd in their book STEM Leadership. 

Buckner and Boyd emphasize that high-quality STEM instruction: 
•    Challenges students to think critically, solve problems and communicate effectively
•    Improves a student’s ability to gather, synthesize, and analyze data
•    Fosters student curiosity, creativity, and ingenuity in addressing real-world problems
•    Engages students in STEM to increase the pipeline of STEM professionals
 

Students work on exciting projects, such as:

Goldilocks Engineering Challenge 

Kindergarteners participated in “Novel Engineering”, an innovative approach to integrate engineering and literacy. After reading a few versions of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” in class, kindergarteners headed to the STEM lab for an engineering challenge. Each student was given one piece of cardstock and access to toilet paper tubes, tape, and pipe cleaners to build Goldilocks her own bed. The bed needed to be lifted off the ground and be strong enough to hold Goldilocks. If the bed was able to hold Goldilocks (5 grams), the next challenge was to hold Baby Bear (10 grams), Momma Bear (20 grams), or Papa Bear (30 grams). This experience helps students problem solve through failure and celebrate successes!

Bird Adaptation STEM project 

All 3rd-grade students learn about adaptations in physical structure or behavior, and how that may improve an organism’s chance for survival.  To apply this learning, students invent a new species of bird with key adaptations, create a model of the bird, and write an essay explaining the new bird and how it survives in its habitat.

Covington teacher, Michelle Kibble, explains:
“Working with the STEM IST, it has been easy to integrate STEM into our content. Our 3rd graders created a Bird Adaptation project that culminated in students building a new bird species in the STEM lab and describing that species in a green screen video. We were able to go into so much more depth than in the past and integrate other subject areas. The students got really attached to their birds!”  

Check out this video of two students sharing about the bird they invented!
 

Ambot/Mars Rover Project

5th-grade students create an Ambot project, which some integrate with a Mars Rover.  As the students learn about colonizing Mars, they put their robotics skills to the test to make a rover using motors, a battery pack, a breadboard, and wires. They are able to race their rovers and engineer solutions to make their rover even better!

Students learned how to troubleshoot problems and persevere as they debugged their robot. One 5th grade student commented, “ We made it and it didn’t work. We had to redo it and it was really hard, but it ended up working good.”

Well Equipped Makerspaces

As future designers and engineers, students learn and integrate new tools to enhance their skills. They can make use of their school’s MakerSpace, with resources to learn about robotics, engineering, 3-D printing, and more. The MakerSpace is available for class projects, or individual work during Lunch Club.

New this year, the district acquired a Glowforge laser cutter. 

STEM ISTs appreciate how the Glowforge laser cutter adds to a Makerspace because it allows for a shorter build time. This lets students prototype and learn quickly the effectiveness of their design. They can then apply their failures and successes to build a more viable product, mirroring real-world experience.

STEM Design Challenges

Some schools offer periodic STEM Design Challenges across grade levels to encourage school community building. For example, Loyola and Gardner Bullis students recently embraced a holiday-themed challenge, which took place on the school playgrounds and involved the principals. 

Loyola STEM IST Grace Choi reported, “The December STEM Design Challenge brought our school spirit to another level! The Grinch was coming to Gardner Bullis and Loyola to steal our holiday spirit, and of course, our students weren’t going to let that happen! Students first designed a launcher for the 'kindness snowballs' (aka whiffle balls) to travel the farthest distance possible. On the event day, our amazing principals were dressed up as the Grinch, ready to dodge the 'kindness snowballs' being launched from our life-size slingshot. Needless to say, our Grinch’s heart grew several times that day.”

LASD was one of the first districts to provide a STEM program and continues to provide outstanding experiences for our students. Our STEM ISTs are role models for a dynamic and innovative STEM education. 

LAEF's funding makes STEM a reality in our schools. Thank you to our donors for contributing to LAEF this school year.