Montague Township School District
STEM Curriculum Guide
Grade 1
2025-2026
Kayte Snyder
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Description
This Grade 1 STEM curriculum integrates science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through hands-on, investigative activities organized by month. Students engage in real-world problem-solving using the engineering design process, working with materials to understand principles such as floating and buoyancy, structure and stability, forces and motion, energy sources, and coding. The curriculum emphasizes observation, testing, data collection, and iterative design. Students work individually and in teams to build prototypes, test solutions, evaluate results, and refine designs based on evidence. Throughout the year, students develop persistence, creativity, and the understanding that failure is a valuable part of learning.
Big Ideas
- The engineering design process guides problem-solving: define the problem, brainstorm solutions, build and test prototypes, evaluate results, and improve designs.
- Testing and data collection reveal how materials behave and how designs perform, allowing for evidence-based improvements.
- Natural phenomena and human-designed systems demonstrate principles such as stability, balance, force, friction, and energy transfer.
- Coding and digital tools control machines and solve problems, connecting physical actions to logical sequences.
Essential Questions
- How do engineers identify and solve real problems?
- What can we learn by building, testing, and redesigning solutions?
- How do forces, materials, and energy affect how things work?
- How can we use technology and coding to control objects and solve challenges?
Life Sciences
Algorithms and Programming
Data and Analysis
Engineering Design
Ethics and Culture
Interaction of Technology and Humans
Nature of Technology
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Digital Literacy
Geometry
Measurement
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Students measure objects, create bar graphs to display data, compare measurements, and use mathematical reasoning to analyze engineering design outcomes.
Students write in science notebooks, create digital stories about their investigations, participate in collaborative discussions about design problems, and use informational texts to research natural solutions.
Students explore environmental issues, consider how communities respond to challenges, and understand the relationship between human activities and environmental characteristics.
Assessment in this STEM curriculum is authentic and ongoing, reflecting real engineering and scientific practices. Students are assessed through observations of their work processes, discussions about their designs and decisions, and analysis of their prototypes and data. Formative assessments occur daily through hands-on activities, data recording, and design iterations. Summative assessments include completed projects, presentations of designs, written reflections on the engineering design process, and digital documentation using Google tools and other platforms. Benchmark assessments measure understanding of specific concepts such as gear ratios, electrical circuits, and coding logic. Teachers observe teamwork skills, persistence, communication, and willingness to learn from failures throughout each unit.