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New Ellenton Middle STEAM Magnet School strives to cultivate life-long learners by providing opportunities for all students to work independently and collaboratively to problem solve. We create authentic, inquiry-based learning environments in which students use critical thinking skills.  Weekly interdisciplinary planning allows teachers to work collaboratively to develop interdisciplinary instructional lessons and units.  In an effort to prepare students to be STEAM-minded, each school year begins with a school-wide STEAM Boot Camp.  During boot camp, students are introduced to the following aspects of STEAM education:

• Definition of STEAM and its importance
• Characteristics of a STEAM student
• Power of reflection
• Scientific Process vs. Engineering Design Process
• Metacognition
• Learning Inventories
• STEAM Literacy Assessment

As a culminating activity to the STEAM Boot Camp, students participate in a school-wide STEAM project to jumpstart each new school year. Students work collaboratively using the Engineering Design Process to research, apply knowledge, design, test, redesign, and communicate solutions to an authentic and complex problem. 

To aid in transitioning from a school that followed a traditional mode of learning (teacher-centered, direct instruction, and subjects taught in isolation) to one that infuses Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math in all content areas, STEAM projects are implemented school-wide.  All content area teachers collaborate to plan and lead these STEAM projects.

Additionally, our faculty created STEAM units that were implemented throughout all grade levels and disciplines. One such unit is our Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) STEAM project, which requires all students to engage in a process of inquiry, standards-based learning, and collective thinking through various modes of communication.  Students actively participate in a solving a complex problem by examining a crime scene and formulating questions to ask suspects and facilitators.  The project culminates with student groups presenting their cases to a grand jury, which previously consisted of a New Ellenton City councilperson, New Ellenton Police Department, an engineer, a middle level science interventionist, and the principal of our feeder elementary school.  Altered bell schedules are implemented for "walls down" instruction that provide students with the opportunity to work outside the confines of subject areas and class periods to engage in student-led learning.

A subsequent STEAM unit, Quest Olympics, provides students additional practice using inquiry skills. Student survey data revealed a common weakness among students in knowing how to efficiently study and review classroom-learned concepts.  Our Quest Olympics project was designed to address this weakness.  Students were presented with the complex problem of developing a creative solution to enhance their academic success.  They studied and mastered skills associated with deconstructing and constructing questions based upon the South Carolina Standards in each content area.  Instructional strategies aided students in distinguishing between "thick" and "thin" questions, as well as how to answer them appropriately.  Students worked collaboratively to develop questions and answers in each of their content area courses.  Student teams then used technology to create an electronic game with their questions and answers that reviewed content-based skills and concepts.  Student team members had to explain and defend their questions to teacher facilitators.  Feedback gained from teacher facilitators was used by students to make adjustments to their questions and/or games.  During a school-wide competition, student teams exchanged games to test their knowledge and understanding of the standards.  Related arts courses joined forces to support this STEAM unit by planning and facilitating an Olympic-style ceremony.  The ceremony included performances planned and delivered by band students, as well as a stage, podiums, and medals designed and constructed by art students.   Medals were awarded to student teams who scored the most points. 

A third STEAM unit, Celebrating Cultural Diversity: Learning from All People, gave students the opportunity to collaborate while exploring different countries. The introduction to this unit included a series of video clips entitled "Where is Dugar?" that was based on the video game and show "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"  These clips activated student interests by requiring the use of critical thinking skills to identify mystery geographical locations.  As the unit progressed, students were presented with the real-world problem of increasing tourism for various countries. Teams conducted research and gathered information on how to increase tourism, which would increase revenue, thus making their country more economically stable.  This included student groups identifying the specific strengths and weaknesses of their selected country and developing strategic plans for expanding strengths and improving weaknesses.  Each group created a personalized marketing package to promote their country based on the developed strategic plan.  Some student groups chose to prepare authentic food and beverages, independently learn common phrases of the native language, create or obtain authentic artifacts, wear custom garments, and/or share cultural music.  Related arts courses played an intricate role in helping students develop components of these marketing packages by providing the artist elements.  Stakeholders attended a school-wide Cultural Diversity Fair where students presented their marketing packages. 

An additional school-wide opportunity, the Science and Engineering Fair enables students to further their inquiry skills by developing self-generated questions to broaden their thinking on a self-selected topic of interest. Student choice in this project includes opportunities for independent or collaborative work. The Scientific Method serves as the cornerstone of student work that includes the following:  1) asking a scientific question, 2) conducting research, 3) developing a hypothesis, 4) planning and implementing scientific investigations, 5) gathering, recording, and analyzing data to draw conclusions, and 6) communicate findings.  This event requires students to self-direct their progress using pre-determined deadlines and established criteria from a rubric.  The Science and Engineering Fair provides all students with the opportunity to address a complex question or problem and communicate findings to stakeholders and judges at the school-wide Science and Engineering Fair and the annual STEAM Night.  Additionally, the top 4% of each grade level represents New Ellenton Middle School in the annual CSRA Regional Science and Engineering Fair. 

In addition to school-wide projects, teachers also routinely facilitate lessons in the classroom that requires students to solve authentic, complex problems. These lessons include but are not limited to Public Service Announcements, Clean Water Project, Solar Power Cars, and Conservation of Energy Rollercoaster Project. Each of these higher-level cognitive tasks requires students to apply content knowledge in a creative and authentic manner.  Students also have the opportunity to participate in STEAM clubs, such as Videography Club and Rube Goldberg Simple Machines Club that allow them to find innovative solutions to real world problems.