Maxwell Elementary-Middle School hosts STEMposium Published April 20, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Alexa Culbert 42nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala -- Students from Maxwell Elementary-Middle School showcased their academic talents during the third annual STEMposium at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, April 13-17. STEM learning is composed of science, technology, engineering and math activities and then incorporating them into project-based learning assignments to be presented to parents, community leaders, teachers and peers at the STEMposium. The students at Maxwell Elementary-Middle School used the "engineer design process" at the beginning of their projects, which includes asking questions, imagining an outcome, planning, creating and improving it until the desired outcome is achieved. The students also implemented the four C's of 21st century learning: critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. "Because the world has changed so much, we cannot just teach a set number of facts and expect students to be successful; we have to teach them how to learn," said Rebecca Hill, Maxwell Elementary-Middle School gifted education teacher and STEM facilitator. "STEM - with science, technology, engineering and math - makes them actually start to ask the questions. That is a skill that they can take with them their whole education; to learn how to ask the right questions. Teachers are no longer the people to give the answers; we are there to encourage the students to ask the questions." Based on what the students were currently learning in the classroom, each grade was assigned a project to present at the STEMposium. The projects assigned included the pre-kindergarteners building a ball ramp; kindergarteners designing and establishing a successful pizza parlor; first-graders identifying three-dimensional shapes in architecture; second-graders designing an efficient hand pollinator; third-graders researching how nutrition leads to healthier lives; fourth-graders creating and testing accessible birdfeeders; fifth-graders designing and creating a roller coaster model; and sixth- through eighth-graders designing and creating a marketable glider. The STEM learning process teaches students valuable skills needed to be successful, such as communication and collaboration. "With this, the students learn to work in groups and to communicate and collaborate with others," Hill said. "When you look at the work force today, those are essential skills, and people without those skills are not as strong in the work society and in the work force."