Arlington School & Family Magazine January/February 2016 | Page 24

Campus News

Adams Elementary
STEM: Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics
It’s full “STEM” ahead at Adams Elementary. STEM
refers to an interdisciplinary integration of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics.
At Adams, you can find students recording observations,
carrying out experiments or conducting their own research.
Students learn better by doing rather than rote learning
and textbooks. For starters, Adams Aviators have designed
and built solar cookers out of household items and built
flashlights using paper towel rolls, batteries and switches.
They have also built towers, bridges and flying apparatuses.
Learning is collaborative and project-based; students
work hands-on closely together to solve real-world problems
and make connections between science, technology,
engineering and mathematics.
“While attending a STEM Challenge at the University of
Texas at Arlington with fifth and sixth graders from Adams
and schools from around the metroplex, I noticed our
students’ ability to collaborate, brainstorm and evaluate as a
group but most importantly their ability to persevere when
the prototype/model did not yield the results they wanted,”
Principal Lesley Rhodes said. “I was one proud principal.”
“We can actually interact with things and know how they
work,” fifth grader Lidice Fuentes said. “I feel that I have
a better understanding about how science and math work
because I am designing and building models. STEM is better
for us because we are not just reading out of a book or writing
a paper. My science grades are even better this year.”

22 Arlington School & Family - January/February 2016

Through STEM, students develop their skills to
think critically, collaborate, communicate and create
while learning about science, technology, engineering
and mathematics. It is truly amazing seeing our students
SOARing high at Adams. †