Teacher Case Study: Gina Riley (II)

Salem Grade School (WI)

A Defined STEM Learning Experience From:
Gina Riley
7th-Grade Life Science, Social Studies, and Language teacher
Salem Grade School (WI)

Performance Tasks: 
Historian: Shipwreck

What we did: 
It typically takes our classes a week to complete a project. To start the Defined STEM activity, I explained to the students that they would be treasure hunters solving the mystery of a shipwreck and all the hidden treasures aboard.

On the first day, I like to introduce the project and give students the rubric for the final product, and daily directions for readings and progress. This helps to keep the students on track. Day two is the beginning of research, which includes reading the articles and watching the videos provided by Defined STEM. I also include links to other reliable resources for students to reference. Days three, four, and five are usually research and work on the final projects, which could be a podcast, a research report, a photostory, a brochure, a coin proposal, or a press release on their findings.

Why Defined STEM was the Perfect Fit:
Students are always excited to start Defined STEM projects because they are new and different. STEM prompts a great learning environment because students are required to think and stretch their knowledge beyond memorizing facts for a test. During the projects, students learn to work independently or together ,which makes what they are learning real because they’re able to connect lessons to the real world. I’ve discovered some students lose interest if the project is longer than a week and they have too many resources to look through. Simple is best.