As a huge supporter of the STEM to STEAM movement and as a career Arts Teacher and Advocate myself, I think that Arts Integration in STEM subjects is a great way for schools and teachers to take the first steps and see benefits.  While Arts Integration into these subjects is not the same as a complete STEAM curriculum (with the A for Arts being given an equal place at the table for separate study and integration to it’s other counterparts), the benefits of how artists of all types think, design, collaborate and problem solve could be easily experienced by teachers and students who might not otherwise make those connections through a pure STEM curriculum approach.  Arts Integration is a way of connecting curriculum with student interest and creating higher levels of engagement. It’s a way to make deeper connections to curriculum, embrace differentiated learning styles and allow students to utilize divergent thinking or an artistic mindset. Whatever your school or classroom needs are, Arts Integration is a powerful way to make connections and engage students.

Since the resources on the web, lesson examples and ideas for this concept are limitless, I am going to leave you today with just a few examples that have worked for me. I have been meeting with the Science staff at my school and creating some plans for Arts Integration into their curriculum and so I will share some of that with you.  These are all ideas and plans that I have used myself, but the links are all to web resources and not my own.

DANCE and SCIENCE ideas and resources

As early as first grade, our science classes begin learning about the Solar System and how it moves. Teaching students a few basic dance steps and/or movements to re-create the motions and relationships of the planets, sun and other spacial bodies helps them to develop a better working understanding of our solar system. Not only that, is a great teaching and learning modality for students that are identified as preferred kinesthetic learners or who demonstrate strong bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (Gardner). Students can even create their own interpretive dance moves or routines to music to show understanding of concepts OR you can teach the class one big group dance that you create together to demonstrate the concepts you wish to clarify.

Other ideas are the use of their bodies and movements are: to show the differences between convex and concave, use large rubber exercise bands to show star constellations or the pull from magnetic poles that create the north and south displays of Borealis.

Some web resources and sample lesson plans:  Bates Middle School lesson plans for Arts Integration, ArtsEdge Kennedy Center for Arts Integration, an ebook titled, “Dance Integration: 36 lesson plans for Science and Mathematics” by Karen A. Kaufmann and Jordan Dehline

MUSIC and SCIENCE ideas and resources

The 6th grade science teacher at my school, my music teaching partner and I use common planning time together to develop a series of lessons for a larger unit where we teach students together about scientific principles of sound; how it is produced and how it can be manipulated to change, etc. We also as teach the traditional families of the orchestra and the newer, but more inclusive and specific, Hornbostel-Sachs method of classifying instruments. The traditional orchestral families system is based on history, the similarities in instruments and how they produce sound and is still used in modern orchestras today. Some downfalls are that it excludes many instruments that our students love (electric guitar, drum set, synthesizer) and many more than they should be exposed to (historical and ethnic music instruments, electronic and experimental, etc.). The Hornbostel-Sachs method, however, is based solely on how instruments produce sound, without exception, so you can avoid questions like, “yes, I know a saxophone looks like a brass instrument but isn’t in the brass family…” or “where DOES a piano go; percussion, strings or in it’s own category?” or “Why isn’t the guitar included in the string section of the orchestra” or best yet, “I saw a youtube video of a theramin…where does THAT go?” The Hornbostel-Sachs system is not only very inclusive of all instruments in existence, it also allows for theoretical instruments that might arrive at some point later. This is where your students come in. Once you have taught about air columns, resonating chambers, wavelengths, oscillations, string vibrations, and how each other those things can be manipulated, students can begin to design, plan and create their own “new” instruments. They can even write and play an original song on them. Create a rubric for the instruments to have a minimum number of pitches or sounds. Include a component for a written out song that uses actual musical notation as well as a performance for the class. Students have to also classify their instrument according to Hornbostel-Sachs and give it a new name. Maybe name it after themselves or YOU if you’re lucky?

Some web resources and sample lesson plans: ArtsEdge Kennedy Center for Arts Integration, Yale University Music and Sound Lesson

VISUAL ARTS and SCIENCE ideas and resources

In watching a very inspirational video on Edutopia about the successes that Bates Middle School has had after becoming an arts integration school, I sought out more information on a program that I saw there called, Artful Thinking. This program was developed by Harvard School of Education and public schools in Traverse City, MI and Bates Middle School uses it in their science classes. Seems wonderful and I want to know more.

Other great ideas for using visual arts to make connections with science curriculum are through Rube Goldberg Machines, environmental changes and “green” solutions, the science of color theory, pointillism, great works of art and many more.

Some resources and lesson plans: Wind Energy and arts, Rube Goldberg Machines and more, Bates MS and Artful Thinking.

DRAMA and SCIENCE ideas and resources 

Drama is a great way to create connections and show relationships in any realm….science is no different.  Each year when I plan my drama schedule for the school year, I try to make as many curricular connections as possible. Last year, our lower school students performed a play that was an “ecological fable” and centered around how a town had strip mined their natural resources and a once beautiful place had become a wasteland. This play was called “Treescape to Moonscape” and helped students to understand just how industry affects the environment. Of course, it was peppered with goofy characters, jokes and some silly dialogue that kept it engaging for actors and audience alike, but it also taught them the factual effects of our industry actions. Additionally, it gave some ideas for how they (we) as bystanders could help combat those affects (planting trees, writing letters, becoming activists).

Other great ideas for drama integration into science curriculum is using drama to tell stories about scientific relationships and changes such as photosynthesis, how atoms behave, the water cycle, the food chain and more.  You can use drama as an assessment option for students to demonstrate concepts and show understanding through skits, tableaus or pantomimes. Not only will your students thank you, but think of all those quizzes and tests you can watch instead of lug home and grade!

Some resources and lesson plans: Photosynthesis, Organic Chemistry, and the Periodic Table

What ideas do you have for Arts Integration in STEM subjects? I’d love to hear from you!