Post by Claire Meschkat & Terese Wills

February 16, 2023

Do you begin your lessons with a story? Stories are a powerful tool that will increase engagement in STEM activities. Read below for strategies, including a video on developing stories that provide motivation and tie in real-world STEM events and career connections. We also link a freebie blueprint to develop a STEM storyline for your classroom!

There is no greater power on this Earth than a story. -Libba Bray

Examples of STEM Storylines

What do we mean by using storylines in STEM? Let’s start with a few examples from our classroom.

Save the Aliens

Here is the story used for the setting of our popular Space Lander Design Challenge:

An alien spacecraft has been spotted orbiting Earth! They are a peaceful species and wish to share their advanced technology with the human race. They also promise to bring a special dessert more delicious than chocolate! But, the aliens need our help! They do not have a way to land on Earth. They have asked Earth to design a lander using only the supplies available on their ship.

The students are immediately engaged and ready to work to save the aliens. We use stories like this for each engineering design challenge in our STEM classroom to provide context and motivation. In this example, the students then learn more about the science behind drag and shock absorption to design a lander to bring the aliens safely to Earth.

Survive Antarctica

In our STEM Explorers series, Victor and Juliette are the guides as the students become travelers traversing the globe, learning about the culture while completing STEM challenges.

Warm greetings Explorers,
You have made it to the most southern continent on our planet– Antarctica. It is also the coldest, driest, and windiest continent. Its extreme cold, reaching as low as -136°F (-95°C), makes it difficult to live in which is why the 1,000-5,000 people that temporarily stay there are scientists and researchers that are studying the area.
How do these people stay warm in this hostile environment? They live in shelters with insulation to protect them from the bitter cold. Even their equipment has to be specially made so that it is not damaged when temperatures drop below the freezing point.
It is your mission to build an insulated shelter prototype to protect your team while we are here in Antarctica. Make sure it maintains a safe temperature inside and has a working door.
-Victor & Juliette

In this challenge, the students will build a shelter that will slow down the melting rate of ice while learning about the freezing point of water, the difference between physical and chemical changes, how whales and other wildlife stay warm in the harsh environment, and how scientists work and live in the extreme temperatures.

Launch to Mars

Storytelling can also be extended for longer units, such as our Mission to Mars or Mission to Moon units. These are 10 lessons that follow an overall storyline. We have a narrator, Astronaut Alex, who leads the students through each mission. For example, in lesson 2, we start with this message:

Astronauts, report for duty! NASA has decided our team is ready to launch to Mars! But how will we get there? Mars is 140 million miles away, and the journey takes over 7 months! We will need a powerful rocket to make the journey through deep space.
For our problem of getting to Mars, we need a specific engineer called an aerospace engineer. Aerospace engineers design things that fly in the air and outer space. This of course includes rockets that fly to other planets! Here on Earth, aerospace engineers design helicopters, quadcopters, and airplanes. Did you hear about the drone that can deliver pizza?!
In your mission today, you will design, build, and test your very own rocket! Your thrust will be the force of air pushed into the rocket, and just like a real rocket, it will be slowed down by gravity and air resistance.
Best of luck getting to Mars! ~Space Club Mission Control

Create Your Own STEM Story

Do you want to incorporate stories into your STEM classroom? Watch the video below as Claire takes you through strategies to use stories to engage your students in your classroom. Click here to download a handout for taking notes during the video.

Parts of a Successful STEM Storyline

So what makes a successful STEM story? Here are things to consider:

THEME

Create an engaging theme for your story to intertwine with the challenges. It could be space, sports, travel, or even a historical event. Find something to hook your class emotionally.

LEADER

Now you need a leader to guide the students through the story. That leader could be you or a character in the story, like Astronaut Alex in our example above.

STUDENT ROLES

Each student should have a role in the story. Perhaps they are astronauts on the rocket to the moon. Or maybe they are travelers. They could even have an occupation, like a scientist, as part of the challenge.

END GOAL

Present a clear end goal to the students. In the example above, they needed to travel to the moon, build a base and grow food.

Lesson planning

Look at your objectives and what you need to teach. Design your story around that idea as the theme using something you are passionate about. When planning specific mini missions (or lessons), decide if it can be done in one class or multi-class periods. Try not to exceed three class periods for one lesson. This is when you can weave in math, science, technology and even history. Each mini mission should have either a “We need…” or an “Oh no…” For example, We need something to eat in space. Oh no, our rocket broke. This is also a good time to include STEM occupations that deal with the mini-mission challenge.

Helpful Tips & Tricks

Keep your story compact; between 10 and 12 lessons are perfect for engaging the students before they lose interest.
Throughout the challenge, practice teamwork and communication with your students. Allow time to do small icebreakers throughout the storyline. Perhaps they need to train to be an astronaut before launching their rocket.
Celebrate the end of the storyline with the students! They completed the challenge, perhaps they can dress as astronauts, or you could have space-themed snacks.
Use children’s books (click the link for ideas) for a storyline!

We hope this helps you bring the power of stories to your classroom!

How to Teach STEM Through A Story