Academy OverviewThe STEMStarter Academy is a five-day summer academy for middle school students that offers a wide range of STEM activities. The overarching goals of the Academy are to increase students’ understanding of and interest in STEM, and to provide students with an intellectually challenging and socially supportive classroom experience.

Instructional Strategies Instructional strategies that should be carried out in the Academy are: Focus instruction on proficiency in STEM practices. Practices are: investigating,

making evidence-based claims, modeling, problem solving, evaluating, presenting, discussing, arguing, planning, designing, building, and testing.

Facilitate small group and whole class discussions to help students clarify their ideas and to build shared understanding about a topic. Encourage all students to participate, including English-language learners. Use these specific strategies:

o Practice wait time o Restate or rephrase a student’s response to make sure you understand ito Ask a student to clarify a responseo Ask a student to explain a response o Ask a student for evidence to support a response o Ask a student for an example or counterexampleo Ask other students to add to a student’s explanation o Ask other students to evaluate a student’s response

Model STEM dispositions of curiosity, collaboration, tenacity, and perseverance.

Support students in taking responsibility for their learning.

Check in with students about their needs.

Break instruction into fifteen–to–twenty minute intervals followed by a two–to–three minute break, with longer breaks scheduled at logical breakpoints.

AssessmentThe two kinds of assessments in the Academy are: Surveys about students’ STEM interests and understanding of the work of

scientists and engineers. Students complete these surveys on the first and last day of the Academy.

Self-assessments by students on their work on STEM practices. These assessments are carried out using simple rubrics. Review each rubric in the Student Book before students begin the activity they are asked to self-assess.

ActivitiesStudents engage in a number of theme-based activities, which are listed in Table I-1.

Table I-1: Activities in the Academy

Theme Students:Electricity discuss what they know about electricity

watch a video about electricity build electric circuits make a claim about energy transfer in a circuit present and discuss their claims about energy transfer make a card or game that has an electric circuit hold a “game fair” to present and try out their games

Ecosystems discuss what they know about an ecosystem watch a video about river ecosystems identify and count macroinvertebrates in water and sediment samples read about an ecosystem that has animal species impacted by pollution model the interdependencies among animal species by making a food

web present and discuss their food webs

Clean Water

discuss what they know about clean water watch a video made by middle school students reporting on results of a

water quality testing of a local river carry out water quality testing of water samples design and build a filtration system to clean dirty water present and discuss their water filtration systems

Ratios and Shapes

make two-dimensional scale drawings of three objects choreograph dance routine positions by using similar geometric shapes synchronized the motion in a dance routine by calculating stride lengths

for dancers who are moving different distances in the same time present and discuss their solutions for the dance routine apply what they learned to choreograph their own dance routine present their dance

Mixtures discuss what they know about mixtures consider particle size in salt water, milk, and mud watch a demonstration of the Tyndall effect learn that a water solution has a lower freezing point and a higher

boiling point than water plan and carry out an investigation about how to lower the freezing point

of water to a specific temperature apply what they learned to make ice cream

Technology use online applications to make a video game, make an android app, use a program to move an animated figure, and make an animated video

build a solar car make a card or game that has an electric circuit