3 Stages of STEM

3 Stages of STEM Education

Do you get frustrated when looking for STEM lessons? Pinterest and TPT are filled with STEM activities, but they often are crafts labeled as engineering design without any rigor or real content. So what exactly is STEM? And how do you build a year-long STEM program? We present the 3 Stages of STEM to help you organize your curriculum!

Overview of The 3 Stages of STEM

For an activity to truly be STEM, it must bring all of the subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) together.

The definition we use for STEM is that students apply math and science to a problem, using the engineering design process through technology.

A brief overview of the three stages is as follows:

• Stage 1 includes activities like tower challenges where students learn how to work together. These activities are often called icebreakers.

• Stage 2 is where you introduce the engineering design process and add math and science, then use technology to solve a problem.

• Stage 3 consists of longer, more complex challenges with a research component. In this stage, students solve a more open-ended problem and there is typically a final project that they present.

Watch the video below from a recent keynote presentation at Texas A&M's STEM4Innovation conference to learn more.

Head over to The STEM Space Lesson Library for activities for each stage of STEM!