Teachers who are using the Agnes Pflumm novels and the lesson plans on this website have found the answers to all these questions.  Dr. Koester has purposefully matched art forms to the specific science content/standards being addressed in each novel so that both reading and learning science becomes a joyful, engaging experience. These art forms range from creative drama and movement to music, drawing, and video production. Dr. Koester facilitates workshops on teaching STEM through the arts (STE[A]M) all over the nation.  Science and arts teachers are encouraged to collaborate with each other to guide students through creative design tasks, which use arts practices to apply or explain science concepts/experiments and/or engineer solutions to problems through project based learning. 

 

Drawing is an incredibly powerful STE[A]M tool for making learning visible:  Catalyzing Creative Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom through Arts Integration: The Power of Drawing to Learn.

 

To learn more about research confirming that teaching STEM through drawing and the creative Arts can achieve dramatic turnarounds, even for struggling students, read Dr. Koester's Science Teachers Who Draw: The Red Is Always There.  You can join this growing community of teacher learners at https://www.facebook.com/scienceteacherswhodraw .

 

 

To join the action research initiative, Project Draw for Science, contact Dr. Koester through her website, http://merriekoester.wix.com/project-dfs .

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To learn more about empowering youth as resources of hurricane resilience, follow the the

ongoing Kids Teaching Flood Resilience outreach initiative.

 

 

To read about specific field-tested science-centered STEAM lessons, including Dr. Koester's chapter, "Getting to 'KNOW'  STEAM",  there is a NEW book out called Cases on STEAM Education in Practice, IGI Global.