The A in STEAM

By NIU STEAM Instructors Newt Likier and Becky Griffith

Here at NIU STEAM, we’re very aware of how interconnected and interdisciplinary everything in education has the potential to be. Each letter in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) can stand on its own but is enriched by the inclusion of one or more of the other letters. In today’s society, there’s a large focus on the hard sciences, technology, and engineering because American culture sees these industries as having a higher earning potential than their creative counterparts.

However, art is an incredibly important part of humanity and learning. Art is a form of communication that can transcend language, and in our increasingly connected learning spaces, knowing how to understand, critique and create art is a core competency.

Try this at home

With this in mind, we have an activity you can do at home to practice bringing some art into your science, technology, engineering and math. For this activity, you’ll need white paper, markers and a sponge.

For younger learners, ask if they can guess why Mars is known as the red planet. Science tells us the planet gets its color from the high amount of iron present. You can ask them what happens when they leave their bikes out on the lawn, or if they’ve ever seen what happens to a parent’s tools if they sit for a long time in the garage. When iron is exposed to oxygen, rust occurs. And what color is rust? Red! You can go deeper into the chemistry if you want, but we like to just focus on iron turning red with rust. Mars is so red because the oxygen present makes the iron rusty, giving us the reddest planet in our solar system.

For this activity, we’re going to use markers as a form of watercolor painting! Use a dark-colored marker to draw a circle to represent the planet. Then, use two different colored markers to add designs, like squiggles or lines. Finally, put a bit of water on your sponge and “paint” with the water to release the marker ink in the paper. You’ll create a basic form of watercolor painting on your page!

For older learners, we recommend having them research one of the planets in our solar system with a focus on its chemical makeup. If you have access to a watercolor paint kit, this is a way to engage with the art at a slightly higher level.

Want to do some more out-of-this-world art? Check out NIU STEAM’s summer camp Art Exploration for elementary school students looking to engage artistically. Campers will journey through a variety of art mediums, while learning a little something about the world in which they live.