Appendix C: Working with STEM Teams
A STEM team is a group of people with a full set of complementary skills required to complete a task, job, or project. Team members operate with a high degree of interdependence, share authority and responsibility for self-management, are accountable for the collective performance of the team, and work toward a common goal. A team becomes more than just a collection of people when a strong sense of mutual commitment creates synergy, thus generating performance greater than the sum of the performance of its individual members.
The ultimate goal is to promote inquiry, collaboration, problem-solving and perseverance among all students.
When forming a STEM team, try to include students with a mix of different skills and abilities. Here are some facets to consider:
Interest in environmental issues
Individual experience and expertise
Students will take on different roles as they complete this lesson. They will alternately function as research analysts, engineers and public affairs experts.
: In this role, students will read and synthesize previously conducted research in order to determine the water issues at play in their selected area. Students will develop their reading, writing and critical thinking skills in this part of the lesson.
Engineers : In this role, students will brainstorm solutions for purifying contaminated water and will design, build and test their own solution. Throughout this part of the lesson, students will develop their scientific content and procedural knowledge, and will build their understanding of the engineering design process.
Public Affairs Experts: In this role, students will develop a multimedia presentation that illuminates water quality issues in the students' chosen area and advocates for a particular approach to purifying water. Students will develop their critical thinking skills, writing sills, and their design and presentation skills in this part of the lesson. If students are having trouble working together, consider asking different students to take on the role of team leader, scriptwriter, actor or narrator, camera operator or graphic designer for this part of the lesson.