Airdrie Public Library (APL) offers a program for ages seven and up called Full STEAM Ahead.
It taps into a successful educational approach that incorporates science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics into a fluid, dynamic and relevant learning process.
The good old days of promoting the three Rs – Reading, Righting and ‘Rithmatic – as all a student needed to get “a good job” sticker no longer work.
You used to be able to enter the workplace after public school and step into position in a factory, the oil patch or an accounting firm, but now we live in a 21st-century economy. Technology and a rapidly approaching future require educators to be innovative and far-reaching when preparing students for changing job markets.
Through creative approaches such as STEAM, education has become an access point for students to learn how to take thoughtful risks, engage in experiential learning, problem solving and collaboration, and how to be creative in the process.
STEAM invites curiosity, inquiry and creative, and “outside-the-box” solutions to problems, by combining two or more of the concepts into a more innovative process. This teaches students to make real-world connections that are relevant beyond the classroom.
Of course, STEAM does not exclude language arts or social studies, but rather – because the process is fundamentally built upon asking thoughtful questions and in seeking contextual solutions to problems – engages both.
APL’s recent Full STEAM Ahead program featured Blinky Shrimp, where participants had the hands-on problem-solving experience of turning construction paper, copper tap, LED lights and a battery into a shrimp with blinking eyeballs. Not only did participants experience the fun of origami and deciphering written and verbal instructions, but they also gained a greater understanding of electricity and electronics – all good things to know when facing a future with jobs that may not yet exist.
For more information on our weekly Full STEAM Ahead program, or any of the library’s programs and services, visit airdriepubliclibrary.ca, call 403-948-0600 or drop by the library.
