Students will work in small groups to research a textile company in Alamance County and create a digital archive for the company. They will research to determine the textiles impact on the community over time. Students will discover how human and environmental actions affect the quality of life for those in Alamance County. The investigation of students’ interviews, research and timeline will allow them to analyze data and make conclusions of impact.

Authors

Angela Dalton, Kelsey Isley, Brandy Lambert, and Tomika Davis, STEMwork Scholars

• Math
• Project-Based Learning
• Social Studies

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• Students will understand the social and economic impact of managing and implementing conservation projects
• Students will understand the financial, geographic, and social impacts and be able to navigate those issues in planning and designing projects that capture natural resources for the population’s energy needs on a long-term basis
• Students will be able to research the engineering and scientific data necessary to design and identify the best natural resources to use in a given area

Author

Sandra Hermdia, STEMwork Scholar

• Environmental Science
• Project-Based Learning
• Science

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Students will learn about plate tectonics and how the Earth’s plates move and interact. Students will also learn what causes earthquakes.

Authors

Angela Dalton, Kelsey Isley, Brandy Lambert, Tomika Davis, STEMwork Scholars

• Earth Science
• Project-Based Learning
• Science

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Students will work in small groups to research one of the following topics:

• Healthcare access
• Neighborhood walkability
• Park and greenspace access
• Water quality and access
• Crime & public safety
• Internet access
• Public transportation access

Then they will produce an infographic detailing their findings about the root causes of the inequity, steps that have been taken to address the problem, and what they feel would be the best solution for a community looking to be more just in its access.

Authors

Emmanuel Davis Lipscomb and Monica Perdomo, STEMwork Scholars

• ELA
• Project-Based Learning

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Students will create a video presentation on how North Carolina’s growing population affects ocean health and their proposals for sustainable solutions to mitigate the impact. Their videos are intended to be presented to a public audience.

The project was inspired by the World of 7 Billion student video contest. In that contest, middle and high schoolers are given the platform to think critically about global challenges related to population and share what they think we should do to fix it.

Authors

Victoria Mahoney and Jennifer Walski, STEMwork Scholars

• ELA
• Project-Based Learning

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Students will learn how surface area and volume changes as the dimensions of a rectangular prism changes. Students will build and paint a doghouse (surface area) for different sizes of dogs (volume).

Author

Jill Jackson, STEMwork Scholar

• Geometry
• Math
• Project-Based Learning

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Students will explore the basic elements and energy that are the driving forces of our universe, from the formation of atoms and matter to Earth’s earliest evolution. Earth is dynamic; it is constantly changing. Limitless energy lies beneath Earth’s volcanoes. Can volcanoes be a resource? Can we harness their energy and fertile soil? Is volcanic activity the Earth’s spontaneous hiccups, or is there a pattern to be observed and predicted? What are the types of volcanoes; what determines their location; and which volcanoes pose the greatest threat to humanity? 

Author 

Shannon Hardy

• Earth Science
• Project-Based Learning
• Science
• Social Studies

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Students will utilize resources from experts/online/books about North Carolinian animals and create their own “Who Would Win?” book/Google Slides/Brochure, independently or in pairs. Students will focus on researching the adaptations of North Carolinian animals they choose to compare. This will be shared with a community audience, who will
provide constructive feedback and provide a reference for future field trips to explore the animals and their adaptations in a local habitat.

Authors

Sarah Anna Tronic, Laura J. McDougal, Shanlee Meyers

• ELA
• Project-Based Learning
• Science

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Your school is working towards becoming Green School certified which includes energy efficient windows. Atrium Windows and Doors has offered to help when replacement windows are needed. Energy Star window criteria and certification varies by region across the United States and needs to be considered. In order to get the process started, one currently installed
windows needs to be analyzed for energy efficiency (can be any size and located anywhere in the building).

Once you have this baseline information, you need to create a proposal for your material design of the most thermal efficient and cost-effective replacement window.

Author

Laurie McKinney

• Earth Science
• Environmental Science
• Project-Based Learning

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Students will be introduced to the story of how Biltmore Farms, a community development firm located in Western North Carolina, incorporates the Vanderbilt family legacy of natural resource stewardship into strategic land development practices guided by 5 Community-Building Tenets. After researching the assets and needs of their own community, students will propose the best use for a parcel of land with sustainability in mind.

Author

Jill Francis

• Environmental Science

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Students will engage in a STEM activity where they will build a magnetic mixer device that will attract lead-based items.

Author

Vanessa Hairston

• Science
• STEM

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The Hooked on Ponics Curriculum is a 4-week program that can be adapted to any school in a variety of ways. It was originally designed to be a 4-week middle school summer curriculum with a 2-week option, but it can also be used as an after-school program. This curriculum contains 4 “focus” topics that incorporate 5 three-part lessons that build upon one another. It is important to start at Focus 1 to build students’ knowledge of aquaponics systems, and then move through the remaining focus topics.

Author

Jennifer Keeler

• Science
• Social Studies

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After considering the work of Biltmore Farms, a sustainable development company rooted in the heritage of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, students will develop their own sustainable community.

Author

Andrea Walter

• Science
• Social Studies

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As outlined below, students will participate in a variety of activities during a five-day Ag-STEM summer camp, in which they grow their knowledge of and appreciation for agriculture. Additionally, students will have daily practice with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) concepts and will strengthen their English Language skills. Both native speakers and English Language Learners need daily opportunities to practice the four domains of language as addressed in state standards (SWRL: speaking, writing, reading, and listening).

Authors

Autumn Stobart and Harley Summey

• Agriculture
• Science
• STEM

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What is chemistry? Review matter and matter’s subgroups of mixtures (homogeneous and heterogeneous), substances (elements and compounds), the scientific method (data and analysis), properties and changes of the physical and chemical kind, numbers and units, dimensional analysis, the metric system, and significant figures. This is first of three units. See Unit 2: Atoms and the Periodic Table and Unit 3: The Mole for more.

Author

Leslie Rhinehart

• Chemistry

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