'I Survived': STEAM Learning from Historical Events

My goal for this program was to engage readers with fun historical facts and STEAM activities that brought to life the science behind significant historical events. To do this, it took some advance planning. 

I started by reading the "I Survived" series and gathering supplies a few months in advance. This helped to familiarize myself with the series, and also helped me decide which books I wanted to use for activity stations. I chose to do eight broad stations inspired by the books: the Titanic, sharks, tornados, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tsunamis and wars. 

Once I knew which topics I wanted to cover, I began to research these topics and pair each station with nonfiction literature, fun facts and activities. Finally, I researched library resources for ideas of STEAM activities that tweens could do. For each station, I planned to do the following: 

• Titanic: After participants briefly learn about the Titanic, challenge them to create a boat of their own using only aluminum foil. When they think their boat is unsinkable, put it to the test. Float the boats in a sink, then see how many marbles their boat holds before it sinks.

• Sharks: My tweens have always been fascinated by sharks. For this station, participants look at literature on sharks. Just for fun, set out a quiz to see the likelihood that a person would be attacked by a shark. (View the shark quick under Attachments at right.)

• Tornado: My region is located in tornado alley. For this station, set out a tornado in a bottle and share printed fun facts about tornadoes and real pictures of tornado damage. When participants are finished with this station, invite them to take a handout on tornado safety. 

• Earthquake: Encourage participants to create a house using LEGO bricks. Once the house is created, put it to the test. Ask participants to shake the house on a cookie sheet to see if it will withstand an earthquake. Once the participant is finished testing their house, ask them to discuss what made the house stay up or fall down. 

• Tsunami: Create an ocean in a bottle to set out. This bottle will help demonstrate how waves are formed. If time allows, pair nonfiction literature on the Japanese earthquake and tsunami for tweens to browse. 

• It’s War!: In the “I Survived” series, the author touches on the Civil War and World War II. I decided to combine these wars in one station and set out fun facts and nonfiction books. I also planned an obstacle course made out of crepe paper, construction paper, balloons, and foam blocks my department already owned. Once the tweens made it through the obstacle course, they were invited to create their own fort with more of the foam blocks and some blankets. This became one of their favorite parts of the program, as they enjoyed tearing down and rebuilding the fort. Once they completed building the fort, I offered “I Survived” books and read-alikes, and participants enjoyed taking books into the fort to read. 

As I planned each station, I put books on hold, gathered supplies and created the pre-made activities, such as the tornado in the bottle. This early preparation was time-consuming, but paid off by saving a lot of time when the day of the program arrived.

When planning this program, the only challenge I encountered was deciding which activities I wanted to do. Each station is flexible to allow more STEAM activities. With time constraints and limited supplies, it took some extra creativity to plan each station.