5th grade student declares new active learning STEM program “pretty helpful and awesome”

Abby’s face lights up with a smile as she describes the stream table kit, one of her favorite activities: “I love doing the experiments because you learn better when it’s hands-on.… We got to use little models, and the rain could fall, and the water would start streaming, and we could see how the water makes the carving and makes the Grand Canyon.

I never knew how the Grand Canyon appeared. I never knew that a river could carve a mountain or a canyon. I didn’t know that, and I was like, ‘Oh, that explains a lot!’”

Students learn best when learning is active

According to the Teaching Center at Columbia University, Abby is correct about learning better in a hands-on environment. The Center finds that students learn best with they are involved in an active learning process that includes inquiry, discovery, investigation, and interpretation.(1) The Living with STEM program follows this methodology, using a combination of digital presentations, virtual simulations and investigations, hands-on practical experiments, and computer-based assessments to engage the students while meeting the standards that must be taught in today’s 21st Century classrooms.