For the first time in the history of the Children’s Museum of Southern Minnesota, there is (or at least there was before the global pandemic hit in March) a substantial number of teenagers hanging out at the Museum. However, these teens do not come as guests. They are a part of the Teen Volunteer Playworker
Math is the relationship between things. The final post of this series on STEAM might very well instigate some feelings of stress among some of its readers. For many individuals, both children and adults, math is a frightening and incomprehensible idea. Indeed, typical math education in the school system has historically done a poor job
Art is the form that is taken by Technology. There are many Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math educators who bristle at the idea of including Art as part of the learning process. For many of us, different school subjects equated to different teachers, locations, times, learning objectives, and even a sense of priority. However, we
Engineering is the act of creating Technology. Engineering is yet another field for which it seems that children today have little understanding. A study conducted by the Science Museum of Boston asked children what came to mind when they thought of engineering. Instead of recognizing engineering as a process, children most often saw it as
Technology is the use of any object designed by humans to make a task more manageable. Museum Educators like to ask children what technology means to them. Inevitably, the answers we receive usually have to do with electricity. “Technology is my iPad.” or “Technology are things that have power” are typical responses. A study by
Science is a way of observing the world and making predictions. When it comes to STEAM programming, science can typically be classified as a means of thinking and making predictions. According to the Boston Children’s Museum, students are “doing science” when they are “observing and experimenting, making predictions, sharing discoveries, asking questions, and wondering how
Greetings from Chris, your friendly Education and Program Manager at the Children’s Museum! In a series of six posts, we will explore what STEAM learning looks like at the Museum and how we try to encourage it. This is the overview of the whole idea, and each subsequent post will focus on one of the