A large part of today’s economy and, therefore, of STEM education is environmental awareness and efficiency. With St. Patrick’s Day activities on the calendar for today and much of this weekend, we thought ‘Going Green’ and how teachers can help promote environmentalism was a great topic for this week’s post. Not only does environmentalism help preserve our planet, but practice with eco-friendly initiatives can help students build STEM skills they can go on to use in just about any arena later on in life. So, in between your leprechauns and parties, this weekend, try to remember to go green!
Going Green to Help Future Engineers
If you think about it, environmental practices have a place in a number of STEM professions. These include architecture and, perhaps most notably, engineering. The best engineers maximize efficiency when designing cars, buildings, heating systems, and pretty much everything in between. Environmental conservation means more than turning off the water while you brush your teeth. For many, going green is just as important as the final product they create. Harnessing clean energy to run machines and everyday devices is key to keeping costs down and the environment safe. Schools can start promoting this notion early on and can even provide some real-world ways for kids to learn.
Students need to be thinking about the real-world challenges they are going to be facing from an early age. Today, one of the biggest ones they’re likely to have to tackle is energy efficiency. Every leading company from Toyota to Apple is working feverishly to design products that are energy efficient both to maximize the life of that device and do their part to help preserve the environment. Another huge topic of discussion is climate change. We hear about this constantly and it will only become more prominent once students enter the professional world. We’re not saying they need to become masters of the area right away, but exposure to some of its basic tenets with increasing amounts of information added in over time could serve them very well down the road. It all comes back to generating student interest in this particular STEM discipline from an early age.
Like many areas of the STEM economy, there is a shortage of skilled workers in the the environmental efficiency section. Now, we’re not saying that helping students realize this and working with them to develop environmental awareness skills will guarantee them a successful job and a strong future in STEM, but there is a chance. Environmentalism is a niche area of STEM in general, so there are fewer jobs available than there are in the STEM industries overall. Studying these subjects in high school and college, however, can certainly make students more appealing to potential employers who are looking for these types of workers. If students know they can contribute to saving the planet, they might have more interest in environmental education in school.
3D Printing Can Help with Going Green
If you know us, we’re huge advocates of technology, hands-on learning, and STEM education. One of the hottest trends falling into each of those categories is 3D printing. It’s a pretty great way for students to build STEM skills that are actually transferrable to the real world—so much so that we even have a whole section on our store dedicated to these machines! While 3D printing, students can combine different areas of STEM education, including design thinking, software integration, engineering, and the creation. The printers give them the power to create just about anything, including devices they can use for custom solutions to tough problems—like those they may face when preserving the environment, for example.
Familiarizing students the possibilities of 3D printing can engage them but, more importantly, could help them see its real-world implications. Many businesses have adopted 3D printing to help with numerous things, including providing more eco-friendly building. If you're unfamiliar with 3D printers, they generally use PLA or ABS filaments, which are essentially plastics (some of which are even recyclable) to make new objects. These substances are not bad for the environment and last for long periods of time before they begin breaking down. It boils down to producing tools they need in an environmentally friendly way and 3D printing helps deliver just that.
Among the reasons 3D printing is an eco-friendly solution is that it uses less material than alternative methods. You may have heard stories of 3D printing used in building things like plane parts and even houses and it remains true that this method requires less materials than other methods, making it a viable, though not always more efficient, option. The 3D printing approach also uses less energy and helps engineers create parts with lower weight and the same strength. This, in turn, improves the weight and efficiency of the machines that use them. Finally, 3D printing can lower the part count, help save space on storage and stock, and enable on-demand production in hours rather than waiting days for a specific part. So, whether it’s directly or indirectly, 3D printing helps improve the state of business while improving the environment.
Adding Green Initiatives to the Curriculum
Educators often struggle with finding ways to weave new things into structured curricula with various requirements. They routinely face moral dilemmas, knowing they have responsibilities to cover certain material while other things are just as relevant. A focus on going green is just like adding anything else into everyday learning; if teachers can find a way to squeeze it in, their administrators are generally fine with it, but, if not, it goes by the wayside. If teachers have a project-based classroom, however, where hands-on learning is welcomed, it could be easier for them to engrain environmental experiences into the existing curriculum. With the right technologies and cross-curricular learning, students can explore conservation, frugality, and efficiency in the STEM classroom.
Educators may have their own approaches but ingraining environmental awareness in students can center on bringing plants into the classroom. This allows students to engage in something other than school work by taking care of the plants, watering them, and making sure they have enough sunlight. It seems simple but the things students can learn from taking care of plants extend far beyond these activities. This helps foster hands-on and inquiry-based learning all year as kids see how their plants are doing at all times. Beyond initial efforts, however, it takes real commitment to keep a green program going for an entire semester. Much like in other areas of PBL, there’s a good chance local businesses will jump at opening their doors to students and showing them how they save energy through eco-friendly practices. If this opportunity ever presents itself, teachers should jump on it!
Green initiatives in the STEM curriculum are also a perfect opportunity for teachers to capitalize on their students’ curiosity. Many of them are very much interested in the natural world, which is perfect for project-based, environmental lessons. The environmental cycle is intertwined, so teachers might start getting students thinking about if certain plant species were wiped out. Wouldn’t this lead to some animals not having as much to eat, potentially threatening their existence, too? Teachers can do a lot with a simple approach to environmentalism in the classroom. You’ve probably heard of student-led efforts with something as simple as compacting milk cartons in the cafeteria. Although they probably wouldn’t realize it, these are the kinds of things that can potentially grow into global success stories. Environmental efforts often start out small, but it’s the overall impact they wind up having that matters.
Saving the Environment with 3D Printed Homes
Just about every house uses up the same resources over and over again: wood, nails, concrete, and human labor. Okay, that’s obvious but, when thinking about how many houses there are and all other buildings, that’s tons of resources. What if we could save some of these resources, like human labor, and use them for other things? Well, 3D printers might end up having a say in that. If you’re thinking this wouldn’t make sense because a desktop 3D printer couldn’t print a house, well, you’re probably right. When printers construct enormous objects, like entire homes, they’re much larger and much more powerful, but remain 3D printers nonetheless. Most importantly, 3D printing buildings eliminates wasted resources and saves everybody tons of man hours, showing how STEM can help.
Construction also presents other risks for workers, most notably injuries. Using 3D printers to build houses would not only be a win for the environment, it would reduce worker injuries. Focusing on environmental factors, however, it's estimated that constructing the average home generates between three and seven tons of waste. In an era when conserving and protecting the planet is so crucial, this is quite a large number. It's not uncommon for workers to fill giant dumpsters with things like wood, drywall, and roofing materials while building houses. In the process, the equipment STEM workers use contribute to releasing emissions that are inevitably harmful to the environment. Any pollution is bad but it’s tough thinking that giving somebody a new home could contribute to worsening our planet.
Activists around the world are doing more to help preserve the environment and the natural materials on our planet. We have another advantage that can help us keep our planet in peak condition, though, and that is technology. We’re focusing on 3D printing in construction but that's just one way tech can help keep the planet safe. In reality, 3D printing a house can potentially preserve a whole lot, including the environment, but it can also speed up construction time substantially. It's estimated that 3D printing a 2,500 square foot house could take as little as 20 hours compared to the normal construction time of seven months. It might be too good to be true as of now, but 3D printing could absolutely carve out a role in construction and help save the planet in the process.
Classroom Environment Also Important for Students
Not all the talk about the environment in education has to do with teaching students how to innovate and go green. A lot of the time, it’s their classroom environment that can make all the difference in helping kids get future ready. The revolution in educational technology has enabled all sorts of endless possibilities when it comes to classroom design and the tools placed within them. With all of the options, teachers are bound to find an approach that gels with their students and helps them grow. While ecologists work to preserve the actual environment, educational leaders are working to advance theirs. Many of the traditional elements of K-12 classrooms have been upgraded and, now, things like Chromebooks, tablets, and maker tools are the things students are relying on in the classroom.
For modern educators, especially those committed to fostering an active learning environment, there’s one thing they hate. That would be the traditional classroom setup, which has, for years, contributed to creating the teacher-centered environments that many millions of students have experienced. Is that really the best way to prepare them for the future, though? The truth is that it’s getting less relevant every day. How engaged do you think most students are when their teacher is at the center of the room and talking for 45 straight minutes? Not very. Today’s students need an active learning environment—one that fosters hands-on experiences and opportunities for collaboration. They need practice with what it will be like in the real world and learning must be student-centered.
The ideal classroom environment in the 21st century facilitates active learning, experimentation, and creativity. Students also need face-to-face interaction, which helps them build the collaboration skills that they will need in the real world. Without being confined to desks, kids can get up, work with new peers every day, and add that all-important interactivity. The environment that students are in every day has an impact on their achievement and everyone should realize it. The percentage of completed assignments increases, overall end-of-year grades go up, and growth in specific skill areas spikes as well. Adding technology doesn’t hurt either, but the true X-factors in creating future readiness are classroom set-up and opportunities for interaction. That’s the kind of environment teachers should strive to create.
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