STEAM focus (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics)
STEAM learning focuses on inquiry, design, testing, and improvement through real‑world problem‑solving. The Award supports this process by helping students set goals, document iterations, and reflect on what changed and why. It adds structure to experiential learning while recognising sustained effort and evidence‑based thinking.
Building Your Award:
Find classroom examples to support activity planning
Class activities you can count:
Design cycle work, prototypes, coding iterations, lab investigations, critique/feedback, reflection on improvements etc.
Example SMART goal:
Over the next 13 weeks, I will improve my problem-solving by developing one STEAM project through at least three improvements based on testing or feedback. Each week I will upload evidence and reflect on what changed and why.
Example Assessor:
STEAM teacher or club advisor.
Example ORB log:
Testing showed a weak point in my design. I improved it by changing materials and re-testing. Next week I will collect user feedback and adjust again.
Class activities you can count:
PE participation with improvement goals, fitness routines or training plans, school team training, intramurals or sport clubs, outdoor conditioning etc.
Example SMART goal:
Over the next 13 weeks, I will improve my fitness by completing three sessions per week and tracking data (time, distance, reps). At midpoint I will adjust my plan based on what the data shows.
Example Assessor:
Coach or teacher.
Example ORB log:
My data improved when I warmed up consistently. Next week I will keep the warm-up the same and increase intensity slightly
Class activities you can count:
Tech help, tutorials, creating accessible resources, solving a school/community need with a STEAM skill etc.
Example SMART goal:
Over the next 13 weeks, I will volunteer 1 hour per week using a STEAM skill to help others. I will gather feedback and improve how I support people over time.
Example Assessor:
Teacher, librarian, or community supervisor.
Example ORB log:
I helped someone learn a tool and improved by using step-by-step instructions. Next week I will create a short guide so others can use it too.
General activity:
Plan a journey focused on a local system (water, energy, transit, public design) and document observations as evidence.
Example team SMART goal (Bronze AJ):
Over our overnight journey, we will strengthen collaboration and inquiry by completing our planned route safely and collecting at least 15 pieces of evidence about one local system (photos, observations, simple counts). We will create one shared summary that explains what we observed, what patterns we noticed, and one improvement idea. We will complete a group debrief on what changed in our plan and how we worked as a team.
Example Supervisor/Assessor:
Teacher or adult supervisor.
Example group debrief:
We improved our evidence quality by agreeing on clear categories to record before we started. When we realized our method was too slow, we adjusted roles and simplified what we captured so we stayed on schedule. Next time we would practice the evidence method on a short route first.
