Creative thinking, hands-on problem solving, critical reasoning—these are just some of the skills seventh and eighth-grade students at Pearl City Middle School used on Friday, February 16. Staff from the University of Illinois Extension provided four different STEM activities for students to engage with throughout the morning. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. This curriculum allows students to actively participate while learning. Students were separated into four smaller groups and rotated through completing the different STEM activities. These included wind-powered cars, Lego boats, STEM Frogs, and Catapults!
“Critical thinking and reasoning are such important life skills for youth to be able to utilize and apply throughout their lives. On STEM Day the youth are the engineers. They get to build, create, troubleshoot, and sometimes they find that they need to try again, but in a different way!” says Brenda Heimann, Stephenson County 4-H, and Youth Development Program Coordinator.
For more information on 4-H and Youth Development in Stephenson County, contact Brenda Heimann at 815-235-4125 or by email at bheimann@illinois.edu.
Illinois Extension leads public outreach for University of Illinois by translating research into action plans that allow Illinois families, businesses, and community leaders to solve problems, make informed decisions, and adapt to changes and opportunities. Illinois Extension is part of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.