Spatial Thinking Skills and STEM Connections: How Does this Issue Address Them?

In this editorial, the Editor considered the importance of spatial thinking skills to STEM careers, provided examples of ways scientists use spatial thinking, noted sex and socioeconomic differences in spatial skill proficiency, and reviewed ways that activities included in articles in this issue involved spatial thinking. Brief summaries and preview images were provided for the articles in the issue. The four-component spatial thinking classification scheme with categories of intrinsic-static, intrinsic-dynamic, extrinsic-static and extrinsic dynamic was applied to the activities from this issue of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions. All categories of this classification scheme were addressed, providing examples for practitioners and parents to consider implementing with youth

Editorial: Welcome to the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

The Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions is a scholarly journal that seeks to engage professionals, including preK-12 teachers, in a conversation about the benefits of arts integration; the ways that the STEM subjects can be integrated with the arts to produce effective teaching (STEAM Education); and how the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), can be effectively implemented with integrated arts, crafts, or constructions. Manuscripts, including guest editorials, are blind peer-reviewed by usually two reviewers and an associate editor or by three reviewers. This editorial explains the Journal’s origin in a faculty professional learning community. The Journal has a national reach with plans for two issues each year. The editorial discusses what the Journal is looking for in manuscript submissions, how the Journal may be of use to readers, and highlights of the articles in this issue. Finally, the editor explains the 5E’s learning cycle lesson model, which is an effective format for inquiry lessons to readers who may be interested in incorporating this format into lessons and future manuscripts

Mathematics in the Real World

This paper reports on a class assignment written by preservice teachers on the use of mathematics in different professions. The professions included licensed practical nurse, auto mechanic, research and development product manager for industrial cleaning products, dental office assistant, snack bar employee at a beach club, beauty salon owner and operator, apple orchard and fruit stand owner, secretary at a university alumni hall, bus person at a restaurant, video store clerk, professional mover, convenience store assistant manager, pizza restaurant server, meteorologist, and land surveyor. (YDS

Crystal Shape Bingo: A Bingo Game for Teaching Recognition of Three-dimensional Crystal Shapes and Planar Geometric Shapes of Crystal Faces

This document describes a game that provides students with practice in recognizing three dimensional crystal shapes and planar geometric shapes of crystal faces. It contains information on the objective of the game, game preparation, and rules for playing. Play cards are included (four to a page)

EleFantastic Bingo: A Bingo Game for Teaching Science Concepts and Vocabulary Associated with Elephants

This game allows students to learn new science vocabulary and relevant facts about elephants. This bingo game is a valuable curriculum resource for any teacher who is teaching about elephants or other endangered animals. Directions for play, calling cards (six to a page), and play cards (four to a page), are included

Wolf Bingo: A Bingo Game for Teaching Concepts and Vocabulary Associated with Wolves

This document describes a game that provides students with practice in learning vocabulary and concepts associated with wolves. Directions for play and play cards (four to a page) are included

Measurement Activities for Increasing Student Curiosity for Animal and Space Topics

These materials are intended for use by classroom teachers to generate student curiosity during an anticipatory set of a lesson or at the beginning exploration phase of a learning cycle lesson. Several different animal and solar system topics are presented

Fifth Graders’ Creativity in Inventions with and without Creative Articulation Instruction

Industry and authors of 21st Century Skill Frameworks are calling for student proficiency in creativity, problem-solving, innovation, collaboration, and communication skills. This project involved 13 fifth grade gifted students in inventing products for a specified audience with a set of given materials, time limit, and topic constraints. The complex, challenging project supports Next Generation Science Engineering Process Standard 3-5-ETS1-2 and applies concepts of plant and animal adaptations. The study had a counterbalanced, repeated measures design in which student made an initial invention during the pretest, then participated in two trials with one in the control condition and the other in the experimental condition. The experimental condition involved creative articulation strategies of considering the audience for the invention, effective communication of the ways the product meets audience needs, and peer collaboration and feedback to improve the product ideas. Students found the invention process initially very challenging, especially generating unique ideas. No statistically significant differences were found in product creativity or student attitudes, which were very positive, between the two conditions of the experiment, likely because of the small sample size. Analysis of student advertisements revealed a statistically significant difference favoring the experimental condition with a medium effect size for including reasons the product meets audience needs in the advertisement. Examples of student-made products and teacher analysis of selected products provide ideas for coaching students into higher creative skill levels. Additionally, statistically significant gains in creativity skill occurred from the pretest to the invention of the product during the first trial and this was maintained into the second trial with large effect size. This study showed that multiple invention opportunities allowed students to develop their skills better than a single activity. The challenging, complex activities helped students achieve a state of flow as they worked during the experiment and helped students develop their creativity

Making Cereal Box Dioramas of Native American Historic Homes and Culture

Hands-on projects such as creating a three-dimensional diorama are among the most memorable of positive elementary school experiences, yet they are generally uncommon because these complex projects are daunting to undertake. Therefore, it is important to prepare preservice teachers with the skills to lead children in creating these types of projects. This document is a compilation of preservice teacher work completed during a social studies methods class that assists instructors in teaching students to create unique dioramas. After the preservice teachers had constructed dioramas and assisted elementary students in making their own, they reflected on previous social studies projects from their childhoods and considered the learning outcomes of the current project. Eighty preservice teachers enrolled in a social studies methods course participated in the study. These college students created their own Native American dioramas along with images for furnishing and finishing dioramas of the Native American group on which they focused. The five Native American groups explored through dioramas include the Iroquois of the northeastern United States, the Seminole of the Southeast, the Lakota of the Central Plains, Hopi (and Navajo) of the American Southwest and the Haida of the Northwest Coast. This document provides photoillustrated examples and steps of how to create an intricate diorama from a cereal box, recycled copy paper, white craft glue, paints, images, and common craft items. The cereal box base is cut to open like a book and a model of a Native American home made of recycled cardboard is affixed over a cut-out hole in the cover so that the box opens to reveal the interior of the home. All surfaces are covered with a layer of torn recycled copy paper that is securely glued, coated with white gesso base paint, and then decorated with acrylic craft paints. In the facing inside enclosure, a ceremony scene is displayed. The back of the cereal box features crafts of the Native American group, while the other cereal box exterior sides show foods, clothing, and other cultural Reflection data indicate that preservice teachers recognized the large amount of time and patience necessary to complete a quality diorama and the valuable amount of in-depth learning that results, including a deeper respect for Native American people and greater confidence in teaching these concepts. Therefore, we recommend diorama projects in teaching about diverse cultures (2 tables, 5 figures, 2 photo-illustrated appendices)

Middle Level Preservice Teachers Experience a Natural History Arts-Integrated Interdisciplinary Thematic Unit

Curricular demands and best practices for middle school require interdisciplinary units. Arts integration can provide motivation and a new pathway to learning. This unit focused on inquiry into the natural history of artifacts and rocks recovered from the exposed subsoil of an area near Cedar Falls, Iowa that had been bulldozed as part of subdivision development. The described unit involved preservice teachers in exploration of all subject areas (language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies) with arts-integrated projects (agate watercolor painting, stone tool graphing, acrylic polymer clay agate keyring making, and stone tool drawings). The content area activities for social studies included identification and lifestyle interpretation of stone tools found intermixed with rocks and sand in the subsoil of the site. Science content activities included identification of rocks (igneous and metamorphic rocks; quartz nodules, geodes, and agates; and iron ore specimens) from the site along with interpretation of basalt cobbles that had been ground flat as glacially transported, and interpretation of maps and diagrams of glaciation, iron ore deposits, and agate deposits. Language arts activities involved word study through morpheme analysis of words such as “anthropology” and “artifact” along with matching a set of descriptive adjectives to objects related to agates. Mathematics content activities focused on graphing. Preservice teachers were highly engaged in the activities, remarking that they learned new content and pedagogy. Some expressed lack of confidence regarding artistic ability because of little experience and the desire to complete everything in the correct manner. At the end of the lessons, preservice teachers expressed that teaching the content through themes allowed for a great number of connections between subject areas, increased real-life connections, and deeper understandings of the topics