STEM Meets the ARTS

Recap and Summer 2023

I have continued to teach at the Alma College STEM camp over the past few summers.  It has grown significantly and it offers so many areas for the children to explore.  For instance, a couple of years I taught finger-knitting to a variety of age groups.  What a hoot!  The kids had a great time, and a couple of youngsters went home, told their moms they needed to get yarn at the store, then proceeded to make a chain which reached around their house!  What a crazy idea!  What imagination.

This past summer I taught photography again, this time using iPads as the "camera."  I even learned the skill of airdropping, so students could send me their "best/favorite" photo so they could be printed for them to take home.  We have to be willing to learn new things - it really helps keep our minds engaged and interests sparked.

Helping a student record his photographs for printing.

Looking for the right angle to compose their shots. So interesting to watch the differences in how our students "see" the potential photo.

 STEM Camp - 2017

This summer I had the pleasure of teaching an exploratory at the 2017 Alma College STEM camp for elementary children.  STEM stands for Science/Technology/Engineering/Mathematics.  My workshop focused on finding examples of Math and Science in the real world - using photography (Technology).

I started each session with a mini lesson on "looking" closely at the world around them.  Using visuals to capture their attention, we talked about a few techniques they could use to take better photos of their finds.  I had two college/community helpers for each session, so we could easily split up into 3 groups... and we headed off in different directions across campus to collect our STEM photographs.

We used iPads for photo gathering, and this was a new experience for this photographer.  I am actually learning to like using my iPhone, but have very little experience using the iPad as a photo tool.  I love how I can stretch my skills each time I teach something.  Life-long learning!  The students were pretty adept so they could help each other... and me!  Students worked in pairs, or groups of three, with one iPad for each group.

At the end of the week there was a showcase for friends and family.  It was fun seeing the things these young people created in their various sessions.  There was a printing issue when it came to printing out my students' photographs, but we just named it the "Blue Show," and enjoyed the compositions.

It was the first time STEM camp had offered arts-related exploratories and it seemed to be a success.  Our time was more limited than I would have liked, with not enough prep time, in my opion, and not enough debriefing time.  But it was a great start and I know they are looking for ways to improve this portion of the camp experience for next summer.

Enjoy some of the images from an exciting week at STEM camp 2017!