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STEM and AVID teacher, Ms. Jennifer McMillian was awarded a STEM grant from SRNL.

Excerpt from Ms. McMillian's STEM application:

Description and Purpose

In my STEM classroom, students will be immersed in the 3D dimensional model of teaching science. Students will use the science and engineering practices (including the processes and skills of scientific inquiry to develop understandings of science content) to cover the disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts for South Carolina Science Standards. Science, technology, engineering, math, and art will be integrated to give students a broad range of learning experiences. I have taught science and math for over twenty years. This year, I have the unique opportunity to combine those subjects and teach STEM (which I like to call STEAM, because I enjoy integrating the arts). I am super excited to provide ample opportunities for many students to explore the new science standards and current math standards, while integrating ELA, Social Studies, and the arts. Through the use of this grant, students will be able to understand technological design, scientific inquiry, and more of the core ideas covered in their science class. As a real-life extension to this project, students will learn the importance of how STEM is used in their everyday lives involving real-world situations. The purpose of this grant is to provide me with necessary classroom supplies that allow students to explore the 3D dimensional model of science to design devices and solutions to solve authentic problems or investigate scientific phenomenon for their grade level. For 6th grade students, this will include thermal energy and designing devices to test thermal energy. For 7th grade students, this will include the cycling of matter in and out of plants, while learning about plants and photosynthesis. For 8th grade students, this will include factors that affect the strength and use of electrical and magnetic fields. All grade levels will learn about the history of their topics, research their topics, design projects to test their topics, and share results with the class. Students will also be able to reconstruct their project to ensure complete success and understanding.