STEAM for Sustainability at RSM
Education plays a pivotal role in shaping a sustainable future during global challenges. By merging environmental education and 21st-century technologies such as robotics, coding and AI, we not only equip students with future skills but also drive progress towards sustainability.
Why Integrate Sustainability into STEAM Education?
STEAM education helps us understand the world by combining subjects like science, technology, engineering, the arts, and maths. It encourages critical thinking and problem-solving. However, to fully grasp the world, we need to include sustainability.
When we merge sustainability with STEAM, students not only learn scientific ideas but also how to use them to create new and smart solutions. It transforms students into global thinkers who can solve environmental problems. This makes a new generation of thinkers who see how our actions affect the Earth and how to fix problems in a way that helps the planet.
The truth is the 21st century is going to be a really challenging time for the rising generations. So it’s imperative that we equip them with knowledge of the issues and the skills to deal with problems caused by climate change such as food security or water scarcity. We need to see STEAM For Sustainability integrated into our curriculums just as thoroughly as English and maths are, and we need to see that in every school across the country.
Children are the proof of STEM for Sustainability
The combination of STEAM education, AI technology, and support for teachers is helping us move towards a more sustainable future. When students work on hands-on projects with the help of AI, they become agents of change.
Early in 2023. we began a collaboration with educational resource producer Twin Science to look at further embedding STEAM for Sustainability in the Upper School curriculum at Reigate St Mary’s.
We hope you enjoy the short video above featuring some of our Year 6 pupils.
With Twin Science’s STEM for Sustainability program, children learn that they can prevent natural disasters and save lives through an “Earthquake Detection” project. They also understand the importance of sustainable farming and create a “Smart Cane” project to help blind people. They even design an “Ocean Cleaning Robot” using robotics and coding to save the planet.
The hope is that these children, the future decision-makers, scientists, economists, engineers, and architects, will prioritise taking care of the environment, the people who live in it, and the animals. They will focus on living “with” the land, not just using it. They will be the leaders who bring about cultural change.
Why do we go to school? At RSM we believe the answer is: to prepare ourselves for the future.