How about STEM apples?
When Ella Lorentz came on board the Holmes County Ohio State Extension, one of her goals was to invest her time and talent into reaching out to the area elementary schools to provide STEM education. Her first major endeavor came with an apple experiment.
For Ella Lorentz, Holmes County Ohio State University Extension program assistant for 4-H youth development, one of the main focal points of coming on board with the extension was to build up educational programs throughout the Holmes County school districts that focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
One of her first endeavors that took place this fall was to create a program centered around apple science, an experiment that came about when she was eating some apple crisp dessert and felt the desire to create a fall program around what makes apples turn brown — in more scientific terms, the oxidation process.
“I’m excited to dive into the STEM part of my education through the extension and connect with kids out in the community,” Lorentz said. “This is an exciting step.”
She sent out a letter to area teachers to explain her program in hopes of receiving some positive responses for having her visit classrooms for presentations.
What she received far exceeded her expectations.
“I was hoping for a couple of responses,” Lorentz said. “The responses I’ve received have been amazing. I will have connected with 19 classes in a very short period of time, and that’s exciting, and it shows that teachers are eager to bring in some STEM teaching into the classroom.”
She said she began slowly emailing only teachers from three different schools in the county. She said she was going to email the rest of the schools, but because of her schedule, she probably won’t have room to fit any more in.
Each classroom visit saw Lorentz connecting with kids and talking about the oxidation process in apples and what substances can slow down the oxidation process and why.
In many of her classes, she also provided a taste test scenario with several different types of apples and walked the kids through the process of experiencing each type of apple through each of the five senses.
The students were excited, not just because they got to eat apples, but also because the experience was interactive and allowed them to fill out papers with information pertaining to the oxidation process and the five-senses taste test.
This isn’t the first STEM project Lorentz has done. She did do a classroom experience last year with chicks and eggs, and she said that and many other presentations are on the horizon.
The nice part about this program is it allows teachers to contact Lorentz and present their ideas on what would make a good STEM experience for the kids.
Lorentz said she is sending out a survey to teachers whose classroom she has visited during the apple tour, sending an email that invites them to share their ideas.
She also said the chicks experiment she did in a single classroom last year was popular, and should any teachers want to explore that as an option, she needs to know well in advance of this coming spring because the extension office will have to secure enough incubators and eggs to meet the demand.
“The possibilities of STEM opportunities are almost endless,” Lorentz said. “Many teachers have already inquired about doing something with pumpkins. Rockets has been another popular one, and the chicks seem to be one that everyone wants. I also have one request for owl pellets, so I am curious what types of ideas the teachers come up with because we can offer some really cool things for the classroom.”
As STEM teaching continues to grow and gain importance in the classroom, Lorentz said she can easily see how this program could take off as it gains steam.
“STEM teaching is a big part of our educational system now, and I’ve heard from many teachers who have told me that this extra attention in science and technology is helping the kids learn while providing some exciting and unique classroom experiences,” Lorentz said.