Gina Zuk, Elizabeth Doherty, Corey Dwyer

Zuk, Doherty and Dwyer created their winning project, “The Apple STEM”, to provide middle school students with inquiry-based, problem solving, and project-based learning. Focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) will provide students with an understanding of the impact STEM has on their world as they prepare for the 21^st century. Purchased with the ING grant, and core to the project, is integrating the Apple iPad and its applications to research, chart, design and graph data from lessons that are integrated in both the science and mathematics classrooms. All 900 students at Madison Middle School will benefit from this project, including an engineering class that targets young women and integrates the philosophy of the STEM project. The educators hope the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics in middle school will help improve the students’ results in those subjects as they enter high school where the achievement level tends to fall below that of other countries. Ultimately, the teachers want to increase the students’ ability to compete globally.