STEAM Power: Infusing Art Into Your STEM Curriculum

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR STEAM POWER

In STEAM Power, Tim helps redefine the role of creativity in the STEAM classroom. He shares his creative insights and practical lessons on how STEAM experiences can impact classroom learning across discipline and department as well as how art educators can evolve their role in giving students the creative mindset and skillset they need to thrive in whatever they do.

Michael Cohen, The Tech Rabbi

Educator, Keynote Speaker. Author of Educated By Design

Playful artist and innovative educator Tim Needles brings art from the back seat into the front seat on this STEAM Power journey. From developing a STEAM mindset to implementation considerations to project examples to ways to extend learning, Tim demonstrates how artistic principles can be seamlessly and authentically integrated into STEM curriculum, rather than added as an afterthought. Educators of all disciplines and grade levels will be inspired to begin looking at the world through the eyes of an artist, to make learning fun, creative, and empowering.

Kristina A. Holzweiss

School Library Journal/Scholastic School Librarian of the Year

STEAM POWER indeed! This book offers you an opportunity to participate in an action-packed journey through cross-curricular and multidisciplinary learning. With Tim as your guide, you’ll step through the philosophical underpinnings of a truly creative pedagogy and explore meaningful classroom projects full of lasers and oil paint, 3D printers and pencils, computers and cardboard. This text brings ideas to life through engaging illustrations, helpful diagrams, and lessons from real classrooms. There’s no talking down to the non-technical here; this guide both inspires and practically supports teachers to engage with the importance of an artful approach to learning powered by STEAM.

Cathy Hunt

Arts Educator, Advocate and Advisor

Founder iPadartroom.com

@art_cathyhunt

Tim Needles provides a beautiful explanation of why the A is an integral part of STEAM. People sometimes challenge the addition of the arts but whether you call it STEM or STEAM, creativity is at the center of it all. When designing for an audience it is crucial to consider the aesthetic design as well as functionality. Tim makes it clear that they go hand in hand. Additionally, Tim speaks with the viewpoint of an engineer and an artist and provides practical ways to incorporate the arts in an authentic way, NOT as an afterthought. Thanks, Tim, for your insightful commentary and practical approach!

Steve Isaacs

Teacher, Game Design and Development

For educators looking to get started with STEAM curriculum, the book STEAM Power provides the support and resources that will empower educators to provide the best learning experiences for students. In this book, Tim provides a wealth of examples, offers encouragement, and shares many resources that will support educators starting their journey with STEAM projects. Tim shares his own experiences and also includes many other voices through Teacher Tips, in which educators offer ideas that are adaptable to different content areas and grade levels. Throughout the book, Tim encourages teachers to take some risks with learning and co-learn with students. STEAM Power is a very authentic book and provides a thorough overview with many tools and tips for getting started with STEAM curriculum.

Rachelle Dene Poth

Spanish and STEAM Teacher, Consultant,

Author, President of Teacher Education Network of ISTE

With STEAM Power, Needles takes us where all schools need to be if we want to succeed in the future—outside of our hedonic adaptation, and into a world of infinite possibilities. STEAM Power is an urgent and transformative guide, an essential read for administrators, school board members, educators, parents, and anyone who cares about enhancing the lives of students through art for the world of tomorrow.

Glenn Robbins

Superintendent of Brigantine School District, Brigantine, NJ

Tim’s book helped me realize I have the ability to be creative and help students develop a growth mindset in a real-life engaging way! He includes wonderful projects in many different modalities, including building with cardboard, coding, AR/VR creation, designing infographics, video creation, and others. But, more importantly, he provides the reader with the rationale for STEAM, practical processes for implementation, ways to grow as a professional in the STEAM arena, and solid pedagogical methods for utilizing STEAM across the curriculum.

Kathy Schrock

Educational Technologist

STEAM Power is my new go-to resource for bringing art into the classroom! With extensive expertise, experience, and passion, Tim guides the reader through a journey of understanding the fundamentals of STEAM and gets teachers right into implementation with his offerings of projects with detailed descriptions, material lists, and step-by-step instructions. All are welcome to join into the experience of infusing art and creativity into learning as Tim shares various perspectives through Administrator’s Angle, Professional Perspective, and Teacher Tip sections. STEAM Power offers a fresh, innovative take on teaching—supporting all students to be curious and imaginative as they embrace a STEAM mindset!

Jennifer Williams

Co-founder, TeachSDGs and Take Action Global.

Author, Teach Boldly: Using Edtech for Social Good (ISTE)

STEAM Power: Infusing Art into Your STEM Curriculum

Tim Needles

© 2020 International Society for Technology in Education

World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system—without prior written permission from the publisher. Learn more at https://id.iste.org/resources/permissions-and-reprints.

Director of Books and Journals: Colin Murcray

Acquisitions Editor: Valerie Witte

Editor: Stephanie Argy

Copy Editor: Lisa Hein

Proofreader: Steffi Drewes

Indexer: Kento Ikeda

Illustrations: Tim Needles

Book Design and Production: Mayfly Design

The front cover was designed by Eddie Ouellette, incorporating a 3D-printed STEAM Power, designed and created by author Tim Needles using Morphi (morphiapp.com). A video on the making of the STEAM Power 3D title is available at youtu.be/Gb0kWUi8jLM or via this QR code:

ISTE Standards Reviewers: April Burton, Susan Elwood, Miguel Guhlin, Billy Krakower, and Vanessa Waxman

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-56484-821-5

Ebook version available

Printed in the United States of America

Cover Art: © 2020

Inside Art: © 2020

Author photo courtesy of Melissa Bellafiore

ISTE® is a registered trademark of the International Society for Technology in Education.

About ISTE

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is a nonprofit organization that works with the global education community to accelerate the use of technology to solve tough problems and inspire innovation. Our worldwide network believes in the potential technology holds to transform teaching and learning.

ISTE sets a bold vision for education transformation through the ISTE Standards, a framework for students, educators, administrators, coaches and computer science educators to rethink education and create innovative learning environments. ISTE hosts the annual ISTE Conference & Expo, one of the world’s most influential edtech events. The organization’s professional learning offerings include online courses, professional networks, year-round academies, peer-reviewed journals and other publications. ISTE is also the leading publisher of books focused on technology in education. For more information or to become an ISTE member, visit iste.org. Subscribe to ISTE’s YouTube channel and connect with ISTE on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Related ISTE Titles

Sketchnoting in the Classroom: A Practical Guide to Deepen Student Learning, Nichole Carter (2019)

Learning Transported: Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality for All Classrooms, Jaime Donally (2018)

Make, Learn, Succeed: Building a Culture of Creativity in Your School, Mark Gura (2016)

To see all books available from ISTE, please visit https://www.iste.org/learn/books.

About the Author

Tim Needles is an artist, writer, performer, and educator from Port Jefferson, New York. He has been teaching art and media at Smithtown School District in New York for more than twenty years as well as serving as an adjunct college professor. His work has been featured on NPR, in the New York Times, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Norman Rockwell Museum, the Alexandria Museum of Art, the Katonah Museum of Art, the Cape Cod Museum of Art, and The George Washington University Museum. He is the recipient of the ISTE Technology in Action Award, the ISTE Arts and Technology Network Creativity Award, the National Art Education Association AET Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Robert Rauschenberg Power of Art Award at the National Gallery of Art. He has served as a National Geographic Certified Teacher, a PBS Digital Innovator, and an Adobe Education Leader, as well as a TEDx speaker. He is active on social media, guest hosting education chats and sharing his thoughts on arts and education. You can find him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram @timneedles.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my editors Stephanie Argy and Valerie Witte for believing in me and helping patiently guide me through my first book. Thanks also to fellow authors David Sedaris, Michele Haiken, Akhil Sharma, and Starr Sackstein for your advice and help in making this book happen.

Dedication

Dedicated to Melissa, who sat beside me in third grade and is still by my side.

Contributor Biographies

Professional Perspective:

Sophia Georgiou: Founder and designer of Morphi, a 3D design and printing, augmented reality, virtual reality, and animation app. Sophia is also a designer/entrepreneur in residence at NYIT’s Technology-Based Learning Systems, focusing on educational technology, is part of the Fat Cat Fab Lab, one of New York City’s top hackerspaces, and Lady Tech Guild, an organization empowering women in technology.

Lloyd Nelson: Professional engineer and artist, currently a Federal Project Director at the U.S. Department of Energy for nuclear accelerator upgrade projects working at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He previously worked as a Project Engineer at Grumman Aircraft Systems developing advanced testing technologies and methodologies to support aircraft fabrication.

Melodie Yashar: Designer, Researcher, Technologist at SEArch+ / Space Exploration Architecture and NASA Ames Human-Computer Interaction. First place winner in NASA’s Phase 1 Centennial Challenge for 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars in collaboration with a team of subject matter experts.

Teacher Tips:

Robert Fish: Educator and Director of Global and Civic Exchange at the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Previously, he served as Director of Education and Lecture Programs at New York’s Japan Society and Professor of East Asian History at Indiana State University, where he worked extensively with preservice teachers.

Michele Haiken: Twenty-year veteran of teaching middle school English and the author of New Realms for Writing: Inspire Student Expression with Digital Age Formats (ISTE, 2019).

Sean Justice: Assistant Professor of Art Education at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. His teaching and research address teacher education in the age of computing and digital networks. As an artist, he has exhibited photographs, videos, and computer animations both nationally and internationally. His book Learning to Teach in the Digital Age: New Materialities and Maker Paradigms in Schools was published by Peter Lang in 2016.

Don Masse: Elementary art educator at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy, where he regularly introduces students to contemporary artists and practices.

Kevin McMahon: Twenty-year digital media educator, ten-year Adobe Education Leader, and the founder of the Design Dojo—a unique, fun approach to design education.

Ashley Naranjo: Museum educator at the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, with special interests in supporting arts integration across curricula and linking museums to classrooms around the world.

Administrator’s Angle

Mark Gura: Author of Make, Learn, Succeed: Building a Culture of Creativity in Your School from ISTE. He taught visual art and other subjects in public schools in East Harlem for two decades, developed curricula for the NYC Department of Education, and directed their Office of Instructional Technology. In addition to teaching graduate-level instructional technology leadership courses, he writes for the New York Daily News, Converge, EdTech, Edutopia, THE Journal, and EdTech Digest magazines, as well as for