STEM-SOS Planning Worksheet
The main purpose of this worksheet is to prompt you to think about how a lesson or unit might be designed (or refined) to make it relevant to students in the School of Science,
Technology, Engineering, & Math. This is not intended to replace your current method of planning units and lessons. You will be prompted to consider three areas of refinement;
Flavoring the Lesson, Contextualizing the Lesson, and Integrating the Content.
Content Area:
SOS:
Core Content and/or Big Idea/Instructional Goal
Unit:
Teacher:
DOK
Flavoring for STEM- Decide on a Strategy/Activity/Hook for the lesson which will appeal to students in this specific School of Study. Prompts below are not exhaustive, but are
examples of how one might flavor a lesson with a School of Study.
Some STEM Flavors-School of Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math
 Science
o Use logic
o Connect to discoveries
o Include the why
o Use diagrams
o Relate to the environment/cause and effect
 Technology
o Use or relate to of any technology (old or new)
o Use of computers or software
o Simulations, tables, graphs
What will I do as the teacher to flavor this lesson with STEM?
What will the students be asked to do to in order to flavor this lesson with STEM?
How will the assignment be flavored with STEM?
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
Engineering
o Discuss the development of . . .
o Diagrams/sketches/schematics/plans/timelines/blueprints
o Map/measure/calculate
o Apply ideas to the real world
Math
o Use Logic
o Calculate
o Use/collect statistics or data
o Scale models
Contextualizing the Lesson – Aligning the “work” of the lesson with real life and/or world of work experiences
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Is there a real life context, scenario, or current event that relates to the big idea in this lesson?
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Is there a real world text, product, or model that students could study to deepen their understanding of the big idea?

Is there a real world problem to solve, product to create, or task to complete in this lesson?
Integrating the Content – Intentionally connecting the big ideas in this lesson to other content areas can sometimes enhance connections to the real life context.
Caution! Never force fit connections to other content areas and always maintain the academic rigor of the lesson you are designing.
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Are there natural connections to other content areas?
o Math
o
Science
o
Social Studies
o
Arts and Humanities
o
Practical Living/Vocational Studies
o
Communication Skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking)
If there are natural connections, how might collaboration with a teacher in that area enhance this lesson?