{"id":10979,"date":"2017-12-13T16:59:39","date_gmt":"2017-12-13T21:59:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/?p=10979"},"modified":"2022-11-07T16:05:33","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T21:05:33","slug":"stem-steam-activity-ideas-physical-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssww.com\/blog\/stem-steam-activity-ideas-physical-education\/","title":{"rendered":"STEM & STEAM Activity Ideas for Physical Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"STEAM<\/p>\n

Whether you have been challenged to integrate STEM concepts into your PE class, your school is having a STEAM activity day\/night or week, or you are looking to partner with Science and Math teachers in your school to enhance learning for your students – we have gathered up a few activities to inspire you. We are also excited about our new online course<\/a> on how to incorporate STEM\/STEAM in Health and PE.<\/p>\n

Why You Should Try Teaming Together STEM and Physical Education?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We have heard from many PE Teachers that finding activities that incorporate STEM are not exactly “easy”, but the benefits of doing so can be very beneficial to students. Research from our friends at Active Schools<\/a>\u00a0tells us that kids who get at least 60 minutes of physical activity each day are more successful in school. PE Teachers that are actively pairing STEM and PE by incorporating physical movement into lessons are seeing the effects it has on the retention and understanding of important science and math concepts.<\/p>\n

“For example, our\u00a0students learned the science behind\u00a0sports and how they relate to each other. Science, health,and physical education blend well\u2026These hands-on experiences activated the brain and body to learn the STEM concepts. The students preferred this\u00a0type of learning, \u201d says Steven Joyce, a K-5 PE Teacher at Newton County Theme School in Covington, GA. Read how he and a few other PE Teachers have been working hard to incorporate STEM into their programs here on page 9 of\u00a0 this National Science Teacher’s Association Report.<\/a><\/p>\n

1. You Can Start Small with a MakerGym! (Makerspace)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many of the same concepts learned through STEM Education, like critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, curiosity, flexibility and data collection, are used in a Makerspace. A simple MakerGym Project could be to create a station using a piece or pieces of equipment that you pre-designate.<\/p>\n

Split the students into groups at their stations. Give them limited guidelines (example: create an exercise routine that is 3 minutes long), time to complete, and make sure any safety precautions are reviewed. Once time is up, have the students pair up with another group and complete the stations.<\/p>\n

Some other elements to think about when doing this are to add that the exercise must be something the whole class can complete. By having something to judge the success of the project, it allows students to make adjustments and changes to their creation in order to improve it. Give them time to “learn from failing” on anything that needed work. You can also have the opposite group rate their exercise based on a series of questions, and then give it back to the group to try and improve on.<\/p>\n

This can be done for a dance unit (creating a dance), students can also make their own games where there is point scoring (you can add elements such as limiting it to two different pieces of equipment), or a game that involves a skill demonstrated in one of your units (basketball-dribbling, locomotor-skipping, etc).<\/p>\n

Here are two more great examples with instructions:<\/strong><\/p>\n