STEAM-Powering your Classroom

The Importance of STEAM Education

November 11, 2024

By Jenny Roe, Director of Education, Imagination Station

Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics, or STEAM, are disciplines that are deeply rooted in our students’ everyday lives. When you assist students in identifying those real-life connections, as well as implementing cross-curricular experiences, student engagement increases and results in deeper learning.

At Imagination Station, we have long recognized the importance of including literature connections with our STEAM programs. All of our early education programs include a read-aloud story, many of our grant-funded programs include books for teachers or schools, and we have even included a Book Nook into our IDEA Lab Learning World.

Many of the most critical skills for our students to learn and practice are naturally embedded across disciplines. For just one example, let’s take a look at the skill of sequencing (which is often referenced in English/Language Arts standards) and how it can easily be found across the subject areas:

• Science—The procedure in a science experiment
• Technology—The steps in an algorithm used to code a robot
• Engineering—The order of the Engineering Design Process
• Arts—The tasks required to create art from concept to completed project
• Mathematics—The order of operations

Sequencing is also used in careers in many different fields—chefs need to follow recipes, bus drivers follow defined routes, astronauts follow a specified process for docking with the International Space Station and ballet dancers need to know their choreography.

By combining cross-curricular STEAM opportunities and real-life connections, you are helping to provide your students with memorable experiences and crucial skills.

In our November Discover.ed, you will find articles on STEAM-related activities and practices, as well as some of our favorite activities that combine Art and Science.

As Toledo's Science Center, we are also happy to work with teachers and provide resources. If you have a topic in mind and need some inspiration on how to add some STEAM, please reach out to our education team at programs@istscience.org.