PENDLETON — Educators at East Elementary School are pushing full-steam ahead in teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills through various student lesson plans and hands on projects.

Fifth- and sixth-grade teacher Ashley Gustin had her students create an energy efficient housing project, through which students took readings of homes they created after they insulated them to see how energy efficient they are.

The project was just one of the studies created by students to show at a recent parents and community STEM Night at the school March 29.

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Every classroom had something different to share, including a dueling chemist show, a slingshot STEM station and an Arabian Fitness activity.

South Madison Community School Corp. recently received a state grant to help support STEM learning in their schools.

“The opportunity is beyond exciting and will change the way students learn,” Gustin said.

The STEM night at East Elementary helps highlight what teachers are doing in classrooms.

“We hope stakeholders gain a better understanding of where we are with STEM, what STEM is and how students learn through STEM,” Gustin said. “I feel we have worked hard the last few years to better understand best-practice in STEM education, and we want to celebrate with a fun night with families.”

STEM education is a statewide initiative to promote critical thinking, collaborative learning, creativity and a complex understanding of science, technology, engineering and math.

This type of learning helps students make connections across content and apply real-world learning experiences within the classroom, Gustin said.

Gustin’s fifth- and sixth-grade students studied types of energy before exploring home efficiency.

The students were asked to build a home and measure the amount of heat loss. That’s when they realized how energy efficiency can be a real problem for homeowners, Gustin said.

After creatively insulating their homes, students again measured heat loss before drawing conclusions on different insulators. They were then able to make predictions for a redesign creating more energy efficient home ideas.

For Gustin, the project was an ideal way to help students learn what can be difficult subjects.

“I often say, you don’t remember reading about energy in your science textbook, but you sure remember what you learned by making a model home and insulating it yourself,” she said.

These types of educational opportunities are great ways for students to be involved in the learning process.

“Besides, learning is supposed to be fun, and who doesn’t love to have fun?” Gustin said.