STEM is a widely known academic acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Educators around the country have put increasing significance on the importance of these STEM fields in developing a pipeline of well prepared citizens in order to keep the United States in a position to be a global leader in years to come. Other schools have taken to the term “STEAM” education, where the “A” represents the Arts, and some others have adopted “STREAM” education, where the “R” represents Religion. Quite frankly, there isn’t an acronym long enough to fully represent the broad academic opportunities that Notre Dame College Prep students are expected to experience during their four years. Notre Dame believes strongly in a well-rounded, balanced, curriculum for all students. Knowing that today’s students will require skills in a number of areas to meet the science and technology needs of tomorrow, Notre Dame expects students to complete this broad curriculum. Students who seek to enter into STEM related college majors and career paths, need also to know how to write, read, and speak well. They need to be able to speak additional languages, draw, observe, evaluate, analyze, and create. Additionally, our students also need to be men who believe in powers greater than themselves, so that they can balance science and reason with faith and service. As Blessed Basil Moreau wrote in his manuscript Christian Education (1856), “To what end would it serve the students to know how to read, write, calculate, and draw, or to possess some notions of history, geography, geometry, physics, and chemistry, if they were ignorant of their duties to God, to themselves, and to society, or if, while knowing them, they did not conform their conduct to that knowledge?” (p. 15). Ethical consideration, reflection, and discussion is also a key component to STEM education at Notre Dame College Prep. It is difficult to separate the individual components that comprise a STEM education since each component may significantly overlap the others. Notre Dame considers the STEM to be an approach more than just a curriculum. STEM teaching “gives students opportunities to apply the skills and knowledge they have learned or are in the process of learning.” (Vasquez, 2015) For example, an engineering project such as building a successful mouse-trap powered car, requires knowledge of science principles such as transformation of energy and rotational mechanics in addition to math knowledge such as vectors, scale, and geometry, to apply those principles. A technology project, such as robotics, requires a working knowledge of the computer program and coding as well as knowledge of science principles such as center of mass and torque. Here are some ways that Notre Dame College Prep provides learning opportunities infused with these interrelated STEM principles: SCIENCE Notre Dame believes that students must have a firm background in core life and physical sciences. Therefore, all students are required to take three years of science in order to graduate. Students must take biology and chemistry or physics. Other electives include Earth and Environmental Science and Bioethics. Biology, Chemistry, and Physics can also be taken at Advanced Placement levels. Each of these courses revolves around a lab-based curriculum. While in these science courses, students participate in a number of hands-on activities including: - dissecting and investigating organisms, such as owl pellets in conjunction with designing and building birdhouses in Geometry - measuring the effect of exercise on the rate of respiration - observing cellular life through microscopes - extracting DNA - cloning strawberries - investigating bioremediation - performing an E. coli transformation lab - catalyzing enzymes - performing animal behavior labs - observing osmosis - investigating photosynthesis - determining dissolved oxygen in an aquatic ecosystem - simulating a viral infection - performing a virtual fly lab - modeling the impact of water shortages on populations - modeling infiltration of solid and liquid waste in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems - investigating the relationship between angle of insolation and temperature of the Earth - modeling wave motion of earthquakes - simulating the impact of natural selection in animal populations - modeling population changes when impacted by age and birthrates, related to other population factors - investigating convection currents by modeling properties of air and water on ocean and land spaces - simulating effects of air pollution on health and air quality. - modeling space conformity using economic and environmental awareness to promote best land use practices - investigating lumber conversion from tree to home - investigating stream erosion - investigating changes past, present, and future to the climate and ecosystems of the Earth due to greenhouse gas emissions. - performing flame tests to investigate the chemistry of fireworks - constructing and calculating the height of air-powered pop-bottle rockets - launching water-balloons, carefully calculated to hit a given target - investigating circular motion through the use of mechanical “flying pigs” - investigating transformations of mechanical energy and energy loss using a table-top roller coaster - verifying momentum principles using an air track - collecting real life data at Six Flags Great America for the culminating physics lab experience - designing their own investigations in each of the science disciplines. TECHNOLOGY Technology is woven throughout Notre Dame courses as each student uses an iPad to create and turn in work, communicate with teachers and peers, and develop the skills needed to successfully work, live, and play in the 21st century. Each student is required to take a Digital Literacy course to help students learn and adapt to technological skills to make him successful. Notre Dame also offers courses in Digital Media, Web Design, and Computer Programming as electives. Notre Dame students have participated in the last two years at the Tech 2014 and Tech 2015 presentation at the Illinois State Capitol in conjunction with Illinois Computing Educators (ICE). They have developed presentations for school digital information displays and demonstrated a student-built 3D printer. In August 2015, Notre Dame piloted its first MakerSpace. This physical space, housed in the Library and Media Center, is a place for Notre Dame students to experiment with hands-on activities and to create, design, and build things using computers, Lego robotics kits, other software and hardware as well as physical pieces like Play-Doh, straws, popsicle sticks, and other materials they can find or bring in. The idea is to allow students to be creative and try things on their own. In science classes, students: - use electrophoresis technology to separate proteins and/or DNA - utilize mitochondrial DNA sequences and gene sequencing databases to evaluate relatedness - use Vernier sensors and handheld LabQuest data collection units to perform several experiments across the science disciplines - use iPads to record and explain Newton’s laws of motion in action - build and experiment with mini-robotics - investigate electrical circuits using mini-solar panels - use spectrophotometry for chemical analysis - digitally analyze data to provide meaningful graphs from which they can draw scientific conclusions - perform virtual labs using computer simulations ENGINEERING Notre Dame’s courses include a wide variety of opportunities for students to create, design, and build. This includes developing 3 dimensional solids for geometry class such as the bird houses referenced earlier. Physics projects include building bridges and mouse trap-powered cars. Each year, students in physics courses participate in the bridge building contest, with the best from Notre Dame continuing on to the regional contest at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Other engineering activities include: - creating genetically engineered bacteria that glow in the dark - simulating an oil spill and designing clean-up methods - making ice cream to investigate colloids and freezing point depression - design and implement best blades for wind turbines - create strategies to remove natural resources from mountains while maintaining the integrity of the environment - designing paper boats with proper dimension for maximum buoyancy - making light bulbs using mechanical pencil graphite of varying thicknesses to investigate efficiency principals - participating in Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) competitions through the Science Club Notre Dame students have also partnered with the Boy Scouts of America to adopt a quadcopter club where students fly and repair their own quadcopters, learning about the science of flight. The Science Club has recently embarked on a new Robotics component. Students will participate in robotics competitions in 2016-17as they develop their own engineering skills. MATH Each student at Notre Dame is required to take a minimum of three years of mathematics. Students typically begin with Algebra I, then take Geometry, and Algebra II. Students can also take Precalculus, Trigonometry, Statistics, Elementary Functions, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC. Most of these courses are offered in basic, regular and honors levels. Math is infused in the curricula of other departments. While the obvious connection between math and science is often made, students can regularly expect to interact with charts, graphs, statistical models, and numbers in almost any course at Notre Dame. In 2015, students participated in the Moody’s Mega Math Challenge where they spent a full day working on an open-ended applied math problem and created their own solution. Overall, Notre Dame realizes that students benefit from creating and making things to demonstrate the application of the knowledge they have gained. This especially relates to male students who tend to be more kinesthetic in their learning. By providing learning opportunities infused with STEM principles, we hope to see a new generation of scientists, mathematicians, engineers and technologists emerge, ready to share their knowledge with the world.