Fresh off a pilot Science Technology Engineering Math program at Franklin Elementary School, Lehighton Area School District is looking to expand its STEM offerings in 2017-18.

Tiffany Strausberger's third-grade class piloted the Full Option Science System program in its daily curriculum as part of a districtwide Science Technology Engineering Math immersion initiative.They completed two modules, magnetism and electricity, and structures of life. The structures of life module consisted of four investigations dealing with observable characteristics of living organisms. Students were able to observe, compare, categorize and care for a selection of organisms, including crayfish and bess beetles."Tiffany has done an excellent job for us this past year with the pilot program and now we are looking to expand it to all fourth-grade classes at Franklin and at least one third-grade classroom at the other three elementary buildings for the 2017-18 school year," said Tim Tkach, the district's curriculum director.Students also learned to identify properties of plants and witnessed the life cycle of a bush bean over nine weeks. They investigated structures of organisms and learned how their structures function in growth and survival.Some activities included germinating seeds, growing plants hydroponically, observing and recording crayfish and bess beetle structures and behaviors, maintaining habitats in the classroom, organizing data on crayfish territorial behaviors and investigating the strength of bess beetles with floss harnesses.The activities have given students confidence, Strausberger said, and even exposed them to projects they may not have tried otherwise."The earlier students start doing STEM, the more advantage they are going to have," she said. "I see a lot more possibilities for them, not just in the classroom, but when they get out into the real world as well. A lot of our girls maybe didn't think they could be engineers or scientists and now they know what they're capable of. It gives them a lot of self-confidence and the retention level is through the roof."According to Tkach, STEM learning allowed students to not only tap into science, but they also exercised language, art, social studies and math skills."They used scientific thinking processes to conduct investigations and build explanations," he said."Overall, third grade had a great experience this year and the students are excited to share and continue this learning trend in years to come."