Prairies and Pollinators STEM Field Study

Prairies and Pollinators 

Glacial Heritage 

Prairies and Pollinators is the Second Grade STEM Field study that all NTPS students will participate in as part of their core Science instruction.  This STEM Field Study is an equitable, integrated, career-connected, locally relevant, field based learning opportunity that aligns to the NGSS phenomena based and three-dimensional learning. 

In second grade one of the Next Generation Science expectations is for students to understand how plants rely on animals for pollination orto move their seeds around. While engaging in this STEM Field Study students will gain a first hand experience with plant and animal relationships.  

All NTPS STEM Field Studies have cross curricular connections that are integrated into the pre and post classroom lessons and have Science grading connections embedded through these lessons.  The Math, SEL, SS, and ELA cross curricular connections can be used for additional data points for grading as needed.  

Materials to support instruction and the day in the field have been developed and are linked below.

STEM Field Study Teacher Guide- Link 

NTPS Prairie and Pollinators STEM alignment- Link

Student Field Journal- Link 

Prairie Plant ID cards- Link 

Integration of Subject Matter: Including Science is Key!

 How does leading with Science build strong subject bases in other content areas? Check out STEM Teaching Tool #62; What does subject matter integration look like in elementary instruction? Including science is KEY!   Interesting information: "a typical elementary school class spends about 20 minutes a day on science instruction, compared to 60 minutes on mathematics and almost 90 minutes on language arts. Integration can ensure that all students have opportunities to learn science, as they are likely to experience regular learning in math or language arts." Consider this:  Is this equitable for ALL students?

If this is your first experience with the STEM teaching tools, there are a few things that you might want to know.

1) STEM teaching tools are developed by teachers and researchers and topics have been identified based on what is of interest to teachers.

2) Within each tool you will find links to additional resources, research materials, and current practices.

In addition, a link to additional STEM tools that pertain to the topic you selected is provided within each tool.   

Looking for more information on time for science and Social Studies?  Check out this video "Speaking up for Science and Social Studies" with Nell Duke. Professor at the University of Michigan.  This 29:08 min. video provides many key points for integrating ELA (and math) into Science and Social Studies.  Nell Duke: Nell K. Duke, Ed.D., is a professor in literacy, language, and culture and the combined program in education and psychology at the University of Michigan and a member of the International Literacy Association Literacy Research Panel.

STEM Teaching Tool #62- Link 

Speaking up for Science and Social Studies- Link