College - Author 1
College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Department - Author 1
Agricultural Education and Communication Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Agricultural Science
Date
6-2020
Primary Advisor
Megan Silcott , College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural Education and Communication Department
Abstract/Summary
Family STEM Night is an evening for students and their families to come together and complete hands-on science, math, and engineering activities. This event will usually include a variety of interactive projects in different topics and connections to STEM careers. Incorporating agriculture science is a beneficial and productive way to connect people in the community to agriculture. The author will research the importance of agriculture in STEM, create and implement an agriculture-based STEM project to present at Monarch Grove Elementary School’s STEM night in San Luis Obispo, California.
The need for agriculture in STEM education is prevalent. When asking a child the question, “What is a farmer?” The clipart image of a man in overalls holding a pitchfork with a smile on his face is what often is described. Introducing children to the idea farmers not only grow food but do so by being engineers, mathematicians, and scientists may open the door into an interest in a field to which they had no prior knowledge.
Connecting content knowledge, STEM knowledge, real-world issues, and problemsolving skills are all interchangeable factors that play a role in both, (Stubbs & Meyers, 2015) Twenty-seven percent of the careers in agriculture, food, and natural resources are STEM (Soergel, 2015). Children are natural learners as they are inquisitive and eager to connect what they are taught to the world around them. Learning by doing comes effortlessly, especially in educational settings where they are given the opportunity to do so. All students have the opportunity to benefit from STEM programs. It allows them to explore greater depths of all subjects while it also encourages teamwork, knowledge application, tech use, problem-solving, and adaption, (Lynch, 2019).
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/agedsp/160
Poster