STEAM Education
At MPFS, the acronym STEAM stands for the cross-curriculum study of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. In the past decade, growth in jobs that require this kind of collaborative, interdisciplinary thinking have been growing at three times the rate of non-STEAM fields. This kind of education cultivates curious, creative, and capable life-long learners prepared to succeed in whatever field they choose.
From fun with robotics across grades, dissecting owl pellets in kindergarten, computer programming basics in first grade, exploring rocks and minerals in third grade, and brain science in middle school, teachers tackle these subjects with a collaborative approach.
With yearlong, school-wide STEAM programming, along with an intensive STEAM Week, MPFS students are prepared to solve the problems of today and tomorrow.
STEAM Week focuses on an overarching topic and incorporates each aspect of STEAM into this project-based exploration. Students age three through grade eight participated in this year’s STEAM Week focused on Renewable Energy.
This kind of education cultivates curious, creative, and capable life-long learners prepared to succeed in whatever field they choose.
Topics studied included how energy is created, renewable resources as an important part of solving the climate crisis, ways to upcycle items to reduce waste, and how to build simple machines such as windmills, solar ovens, and even solar toy cars! Read the full STEAM article titled STEAM Week 2023: Renewable Resources in Around Campus News.
Students also have access to a makerspace, a hands-on, integral part of learning at MPFS. The makerspace is located in the Library and encourages students to innovate, problem-solve, and create. While doing all of those things is part of everyday life here at MPFS, this space is designed to give students the opportunity to be more open-ended with their creativity and to have a wide variety of tools and materials at their disposal to inspire innovation.
The space includes high tech tools, such as 3D printers; low tech tools, including hammers and glue guns; and tools in between, such as sewing machines. Materials students have access to include cardboard, paper and wood, as well as new materials, such as PLA (Polylactic Acid) Filament, the thermoplastic used to create 3D objects with the printers. Students of all ages have opportunities to play, explore, build, discover, and create in the makerspace.