WHAT IS STEM?

          

The United States has developed as a global leader, in large part, through the genius and hard work of its scientists, engineers, and innovators. In a world that’s becoming increasingly complex, where success is driven not only by what you know, but by what you can do with what you know, it’s more important than ever for our youth to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to solve tough problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and make sense of information. These are the types of skills that students learn by studying science, technology, engineering, and math—subjects collectively known as STEM. It is a curriculum based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines; science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in an interdisciplinary and applied approach. Rather than teach the four disciplines as separate and discrete subjects, STEM integrates them into a cohesive learning paradigm based on real-world applications. 

    

     STEM is a program focuses on the application of the subjects in a challenging and rigorous manner. Courses and pathways are now available in STEM fields and occupations, as well as preparation for post-secondary education and employment. More emphasis is placed on bridging in-school and out-of-school STEM opportunities.

       

So what is STEM? STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These four symbols represent the different areas of STEM education. STEM education integrates concepts that are usually taught as separate subjects in different classes and emphasizes the application of knowledge to real-life situations. A lesson or unit in a STEM class is typically based around finding a solution to a real-world problem and tends to emphasize project-based learning. In the United States, the program helps immigrants with skills in the STEM subjects obtain work visas. In addition, STEM focuses on perceived education quality shortcomings in these fields, with the aim of increasing the supply of qualified high-tech workers.

WHY WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT STEM?

       Success starts with critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Our education system is tasked with preparing the next-generation to succeed in life. That’s a tall order and it will substantially fail if it doesn’t teach children how to think critically and solve problems. STEM program prepares students for life, regardless of the profession they choose to follow. Those subjects teach students how to think critically and how to solve problems — skills that can be used throughout life to help them get through tough times and take advantage of opportunities whenever they appear. The lesson that needs to be learned here is that, if you want your child to succeed in life, teach him or her how to think critically and solve problems. The best way to do that is to provide them with a good foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). As I noted at the beginning of this article, grounding student in STEM subjects doesn’t mean that other social or liberal arts subjects aren’t important, only that STEM subjects teach life-skills that other disciplines don’t. We are all familiar with the adage “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Too often we are feeding our students instead of teaching them how to feed themselves. The disciplines that do that best are STEM-related.

    STEM helps us to pervade every part of our lives. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives. Engineering is the basic designs of roads and bridges, but also tackles the challenges of changing global weather and environmentally-friendly changes to our home. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, they will develop a passion for it and hopefully pursue a job in a STEM field. A curriculum that is STEM-based has real-life situations to help the student learn. STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for the student. Making math and science both fun and interesting helps the student to do much more than just learn. STEM education helps to bridge the ethnic and gender gaps sometimes found in math and science fields. Initiatives have been established to increase the roles of women and minorities in STEM-related fields. STEM education breaks the traditional gender roles. In order to compete in a global economy, STEM education and careers must be a national priority. Each and every decision made uses an aspect of STEM to understand the implications.

                In conclusion, we should care about STEM because it is vital to our future —the future of our country, the future of our region and the future of our children. STEM is so important for our us especially for our children, because our region and our country, we need to encourage the students currently in our educational systems, as well as future generations of students, to understand and embrace the technology that affects them every day of their lives. Students should be advised on the merits of taking as many math and science courses in middle and high school as possible. And these courses need to be taught by engaged and enthusiastic teachers using hands-on and minds-on activities. Making science and math courses fun and interesting will not only help students to learn, but might also plant the “seed of interest” that could grow into an exciting and rewarding STEM career.

WHAT IS ENGINEERING?

Albert Einstein, one of the world's greatest scientists, hit the nail right on the head when he pondered the question 'what is engineering?'.

In simple terms, engineers identify a problem, and come up with a solution – often creating something completely new in the process.

Traditionally, engineering is about infrastructure. Engineers were known to create bridges and vehicles that got us from A to B faster more efficiently. Now engineering is acknowledged as a discipline that opens up opportunities and creates technology and products that help make our lives easier.

Engineers are shaping the future by applying their skills to almost everything you can think of, from medicine to renewable energy, food technologies to sustainable mining. There really is no limit to what engineers can do.

Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge to solving problems in the real world. While science (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) allows us to gain an understanding of the World and the Universe, Engineering enables this understanding to come to life through problem solving, designing and building things. The electronic device you are using to read this article was engineered from raw plastic, metal, silicon and lines of software code before being transformed into a usable device.

Engineers can be distinguished from other professions by their ability to solve complex problems and implement solutions in cost effective and practical ways. This ability to face a problem, work through various thoughts and abstract ideas and then translating them into reality is what is so exciting about engineering.

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF STEM TO ENGINEERING?

The main relationship of STEM to engineering is the application. The STEM program integrates engineering with science and improves student understanding of technology. These connections are important! Though people tend to think of science, engineering, and technology as three separate things, they’re actually closely connected.

For example, scientists use the technologies that engineers create (such as microscopes, monitors, and meters) to conduct their research. And when engineers start to design a new technology, they call on the knowledge of the natural world developed by scientists (for example, the law of gravity or how fluid flows). Engineering, science, and technology connect to—and influence—each other.

Engineering, science, and technology also influence (and are influenced by) society. Our human values, needs, or problems often determine what questions scientists investigate and what problems engineers tackle. Meanwhile the technologies that are the products of science and engineering influence society and change human culture (just think of the impacts of cars and cell phones!).

The infographic to the right shows how science, engineering, and technology connect to society:

This chart shows how science, engineering, and technology connect to society: 

Science	Engineering	Technology
. . . is the body of knowledge of the physical and natural worlds.	. . . is the application of knowledge in order to design, build, and maintain technologies.	. . . is the body of knowledge, systems, processes, and artifacts that results from engineering.
. . . seeks to describe and understand the natural world and its physical properties.	. . . seeks  solutions for societal problems, needs, and wants	. . . can be used to describe almost anything made by humans to solve a problem or meet a need.
. . . uses varied approaches—scientific methods such as controlled experiments or longitudinal observational studies—to generate knowledge.	. . . uses varied approaches—for example, engineering design processes or engineering analyses—to produce and evaluate solutions and technologies.	. . . results from the process of engineering
Scientific knowledge can be used to make predictions	Engineering aims to produce the best solutions given resources and constraints	Technologies are anything made by humans to fill a need or desire