The ABCs of Kindergarten STEM
Post by Terese Wills
January 17, 2022
STEM may be the biggest buzzword in education right now. Parents are demanding it, administrators are scrambling to implement it, and Facebook teacher groups are filled with first-year STEM teachers asking where to start. Everyone wants their students to learn STEM, but is every student ready for STEM?
In this post, we discuss how to engage the youngest learners in meaningful STEM through our brand-new Alphabet STEM curriculum for Kindergarten! Alphabet STEM was a collaborative effort from the Vivify STEM team. Read on for our favorite letters, advice on teaching kinder STEM, and grab the free kinder STEM lesson!
Have you ever asked a 3 or 4 year old what they could do with a box? They will tell you it isn’t a box! It is a car that their stuffy is driving on vacation, a library that is loaded with the most interesting picture books, a candy store with shelves full of their favorite candies, or a lemonade stand where they will make millions of dollars selling refreshing glasses of fresh lemonade to the neighbors.
As students age, their creativity diminishes from “anything is possible” to hoping not to get the answer “wrong.” Can we harness those young students’ creativity with STEM? Yes! And, well, no. In The STEM Space Podcast, Can My Baby Do STEM?, Claire explains an ideal age to start introducing STEM to children is around 5 or 6 years old. Developmentally, they can begin to make connections between cause and effect. Why did the tower fall? Gravity!
Alphabet STEM Curriculum for Kindergarten
To harness the creativity and enthusiasm of those 5 and 6-year-olds, Vivify has created Alphabet STEM. The focus of this bundle is to introduce Stage 1 STEM activities for each letter of the alphabet along with a taste of engineering design, perfect for your young learners! These activities emphasize outcomes for kindergarten readiness in the areas of math and science.
Alphabet STEM combines literacy with STEM and provides teachers with activities relating to each letter of STEM. For example, the curriculum for Letter A includes:
Science: Create an air cannon (forces)
Technology: Learn about apps
Engineering: Design paper airplanes (lift and drag)
Math: Play an apple adding game (addition)
Career: Build an astronaut puppet
Letter A activities and the full bundle preview can be found in our free resource library (password vivfystem) or here.
Alphabet STEM was a collaborative effort from the Vivify STEM team! Each member contributed to the curriculum. Here are their favorite letters and implementation advice.
Letter S: From Seeds to Simple machines
Each letter includes a science connection. For example, in the letter S, the science connection is seed dispersal. Teachers will read the story “Flip, Float, Fly- Seeds on the Move” by JoAnn Early Macken to their class. Following the story, teachers will show their students different types of seeds. Using a box fan to represent the wind, the students will see how different size and shaped seeds are dispersed in nature.
Your students will explore STEM subjects with the following activities related to the letter S:
Science: Seed dispersal
Technology: Search engine
Engineering: Simple machines - building a Shovel
Math: Sorting Shapes
STEM Career: Soil Scientist
Letter S was developed by Michelle Bogden. We asked her a few questions about the lessons.
What is your favorite part of the Letter S activity set?
I like the letter ‘S’ because there are a lot of connections throughout the product. The start of the product students are introduced to the idea of seed dispersal and at the end of the product, students become a soil scientist by planting a lima bean seed. Within the product, they are incorporating engineering by building a shovel that can be used for the planting process and learning math through sorting. The shape sorting could also be incorporated by using different seeds to sort!
What advice do you have for teachers?
I recommend that teachers make a point to connect each portion of the product together, it will make for a fun and meaningful unit! With all the hands-on activities it is best to plan accordingly and incorporate more time than you think they will need. Prepare supplies ahead of time and be patient when students are building while also supporting them so frustration does not arise. I encourage you to let each student plant their own lima bean seed so they can take them home to share with their family!
Letter T: From Thermometer to Tangrams
Each letter also includes a technology connection. For example, in the letter T, students will learn how to create a table to record and organize data. Using a simple visual activity with the whiteboard, students will understand the importance of keeping data in an organized table in order to interpret the data.
Your students will explore STEM subjects with the following activities related to the letter T:
Science: Thermometers
Technology: (data) Table
Engineering: Tinker Trays
Math: Tangram Shapes
STEM Career: Transportation Engineer
Letter T was developed by Julie Lyons.
Why is the Letter T activity set your favorite?
I chose this letter because the concepts are challenging yet kid friendly to meet each child at the level they are - meaning that each activity can be scaled up or down. For example, the tangram shapes can be kept at a very basic level with a pattern shown and/or working with a partner all the way up to building solo with just a few verbal hints. I also love the use of incorporating technology with the online tangram app option.
What advice do you have for teachers implementing the Letter T activity set?
The tinker tray building is a great activity to stretch the minds of your most curious students. You can give teacher cues & hints to challenge students in their building. For example, you could add in the challenge of building something with legs or something that rolls. To give more scaffolding you could partner students up, choose 5 supplies for them to use and build with them to get the partners started. Some other helpful tips would be to have similar supplies in each tinker tray and supplies of varying uses in a build like round objects for wheels, connecting items, like tape & glue and decorative items like google eyes & pipe cleaners. Lastly, be ready for students to want more & more time to keep building. They will surely be engaged!
Letter E: From Experiments to Equal
Each letter also includes an engineering connection. For example, in the letter E, students are introduced to static electricity. Using a balloon and a plate of salt and pepper, students will see how the charge from one object jumps to the other object. Another variation of this experiment offered in the Letter E packet is to use a balloon and a “ghost” cut from white tissue paper.
Your students will explore STEM subjects with the following activities related to the letter E:
Science: Experiments
Technology: Email
Engineering: (static) Electricity
Math: Equals
STEM Career: Environmental Engineer
The letter E was developed by Terese Wills.
What makes the letter E activity set so your favorite?
I love how there is a storybook associated with the math concept of equals to help the students visualize the concept. But I’m most proud of the environmental engineer nature scavenger hunt. This scavenger hunt is perfect to get your students outdoors and acting as real environmental engineers. The students will practice observation to find the items on their list. This habit of observation will help them grow to be lifelong learners.
What advice would you have for teachers using this packet?
Teachers know their students best. If the students are responding well to one specific activity, spend more time on that concept; maybe create variations of the activity. Can your students go a little deeper with the concept? Challenge them. If your students are struggling with a concept, break that concept into smaller parts to eliminate any frustrations. But most importantly, have fun with your students using these activities.
Letter M: From Magnets to Measurements
Each letter also includes a math connection. For example, in the letter M, students will find the measurements of classroom objects using nonstandard units of measurement: blue squares. Your students will explore STEM subjects with the following activities related to the letter T:
Science: Magnets
Technology: Mouse
Engineering: Maze
Math: Measurement
STEM Career: Meteorologist
Claire Meschkat, the brilliant mastermind behind the Alphabet STEM curriculum, comments on the letter M unit:
What makes the letter M activity set your favorite?
I love how the M activities focus on basic yet critical concepts that students will also find exciting. All kids will need to know how to use a computer mouse and how to measure things while the magnets and maze activities are very relatable to experiences that kids are likely familiar with as well. My favorite part is the career focus where students practice presentation skills while learning about weather and becoming a Meteorologist. The kids really get into this one and it makes for a memorable lesson.
What advice would you have for teachers using this packet?
To get the most out of this activity set, teachers should investigate through questioning what prior knowledge students have with the topics being taught and connect new ideas with their previous experiences. Have they ever played with wooden trains that have magnets? They may have seen how magnets can attract and repel depending on which way the trains face each other! Doing this will increase understanding and retention while also boosting engagement. Plus, kids love to tell stories and it can lead to some entertaining and thought provoking conversations!
Career Connections across the Alphabet!
As your students work through the letters of the alphabet, they will be introduced to STEM careers beginning with that letter of the alphabet. For the letters highlighted today:
Letter S: Soil Scientist
Letter T: Transportation Engineer
Letter E: Environmental Engineer
Letter M: Meteorologist
As a soil scientist, students will plant a lima bean and study the effects of the soil on the growth of their plant. As a transportation engineer, students will talk about different modes of transportation and create a train track using craft sticks. For Environmental Engineering, students will head outdoors to make observations and identify plants and animals. As Meteorologists, students will have the opportunity to report on the weather. Each of the careers explain the job, the qualifications to get the job and an activity for the career.
Alphabet STEM is the perfect way to introduce your 5 and 6 year old students to all the aspects of STEM in a way they will be able to comprehend. Students will anxiously anticipate the next week’s letter and you will be amazed as they draw connections to past lessons as you progress through the curriculum. Completing this curriculum will provide the foundation the students need to advance to Stage 2 STEM and beyond! Check out the entire Alphabet Stem bundle and grab your free astronaut puppet template here!
