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Table 4 Abbreviated example of 8th grade science STEAM unit

From: Co-Measure: developing an assessment for student collaboration in STEAM activities

Project scenario: As more people move to Charleston and businesses continue to grow, traffic is increasing and causing delays, especially along Clements Ferry Road. For example, this means that a person driving 10 miles from their home on Daniel Island to Wando High School might spend 45 minutes in traffic for what should take less than 20 minutes. This comes at a great cost to families who spend less time together, the environment that becomes polluted by increased and slower traffic, and the economy as work time is reduced. As a city planner, you have been given the challenge of designing a solution to the traffic problems in the local area. City planners have to use the scientific and engineering design process in order to find and test solutions, luckily you know these strategies! You have decided it will be helpful to think about the history of South Carolina and how it has changed since colonial times to get a better idea of the land and transportation needed. Also, you will research and read articles on the geographic area, traffic, and the increased houses and businesses expected for Clements Ferry Road. You will need to propose a plan to alleviate traffic issues along with a model to show the city council, and you will also need to be prepared to share the information with the community.

Driving question: How can studying history and traffic patterns in a region help to design a solution to transportation problems?

Elements of STEAM

 Science: Students will explore point and non-point pollution sources examining how adding permeable or non-permeable surfaces can affect water flow. Students will model this water flow with permeable and non-permeable surfaces.

 Technology: Students will use design software (SketchUp), Chromebooks (Google Apps and Research), and iPads or iPhones to record videos. They will also explore VR technology in the SS class and use Adobe Spark to create and narrate videos describing ‘forgotten’ cities.

 Engineering: Students will be using the engineering design process to plan and then design a model of the traffic flow, including examining issues with water flow, etc.

 Arts: Students examine emotional and aesthetic impact of changing the streets and how it will affects homes, churches, and the local community. Students will investigate “forgotten” cities in the area and Route 66, and the impact on cities. They will create a mural for the neighborhood affected by this construction. Students will consider the impact on nature and propose ways to keep the area aesthetically pleasing and natural with the trees, river, and animals.

 Mathematics: Students will explore the increase in population and its impact on homes. Ratio, scale and proportion will be used to develop their model. They will also develop a budget for this project and use graphing software.

 Content Standards

  English Language Arts

   1. Write arguments that: a. introduce claims, acknowledge and distinguish the claims from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically; b. use relevant information from multiple print and multimedia sources; c. support claims; d. use an organizational structure that provides unity and clarity among claims, counterclaims, reasons, and evidence using valid reasoning and a variety of relevant evidence from accurate, verifiable sources; e. develop the claim and counterclaims providing credible evidence and data for each.

   2. Employ a critical stance to demonstrate that relationships and patterns of evidence lead to logical conclusions, while acknowledging alternative views.

   3. Develop a range of questions to frame inquiry for new learning and deeper understanding.

  Social Studies

   1. Summarize the history of English settlement in New England, the mid-Atlantic region, and the South, with an emphasis on South Carolina as an example of a distinctly southern colony.

   2. Summarize key economic issues in present-day South Carolina.

   3. Explain the tensions between the Upcountry and Lowcountry of South Carolina, including their economic struggles after the Revolutionary War, their disagreement over representation in the General Assembly, the location of the new capital, and the transformation of the state’s economy.

  Science Standards

   1. Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.

   2. Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth’s systems

Brief description of students’ activities

 Day 1: Introduction of scenario.

 Day 2: Students will make a historical timeline describing the population changes that took place in SC.

 Day 3: Students will analyze maps, charts, and timelines to further understand changes in SC’s population, economy, and movement. Students will conduct a close read of newspaper articles on the traffic issues that Charleston residents face, specifically in the Clements Ferry corridor. Students conduct research, brainstorm ideas towards their solutions, discuss them and then get ‘scenario’ cards with proposed solutions that they have to discuss in terms of pros/cons and social issues. Solutions they might discuss could include more public transportation (a controversial issue because of the financial cost), working from home 2 days a week, halting/limiting development, mandating carpooling, taxing SUVs etc. Students must equip their proposal with claims, counterclaims, evidence, and rebuttals.

 Day 4: Students will use Recap, Kahoot, and Quizlet to check for their understanding of population changes in the area. Begin design process.

 Day 5: Students will use the VR glasses to see how the location of different places impacts population and transportation. Students will write a script of questions to use during the interviews. Students will conduct interviews with parents, teachers and other members of the community to find out their opinions of the traffic and how to fix the traffic impacts them and ways to fix it. Students can either record the interviews in video format, podcast format, or written (presentation). The interviews will influence their decision making process of their proposal.

 Day 6-7: Students will use their knowledge of SC history to support their design and plan. They will make a presentation to share with the class aligned with their design and proposal in Science and ELA. Students will finalize their videos and their talking points for their presentation. Begin murals.

 Day 8: Students will present their designs to the council (a panel of community members and/or teachers)

 Day 9-10 – Work on completing murals.

Resources/Equipment needed

 Chromebooks - for Sketchup and access to collaboration platforms and Google Drive, iPhone, iPad or some other device that records videos., VR Google Expedition Kits, Newspaper articles from the local area on traffic, etc., Proposal Outline or Template, sketchbooks, paint, art supplies for mural

Experts

 City planner, community members, law enforcement officer, arts council member

Technology Integration

 Sketchup Make (a free version) to design the plan for the road construction https://www.sketchup.com/, Chromebooks and Google Apps will be used to research, collaborate, and create docs/forms/graphs etc. Virtual Reality Google Expedition Kits

Assessment

 Formative

  Recap can be used to have students reflect on the varying steps of the unit. Kahoot will be used to check for understanding of the Scientific Method and/or Engineering Design Process. Review of interview questions. Check-ins and quizzes for embedded math skills.

 Summative

  Historical Timeline of the Changes in South Carolina - S.S. Proposal written to the council – ELA; Model on water flow – Science; Visual slideshow and mural critique-Art.