Soaring Ahead
A private STEAM school in Lake Orion, MI
Our STEAM Program
At Eagle Creek, STEAM is all about hands-on learning, curiosity, and creativity. Students explore real-world ideas by building, testing, creating, and solving problems.
All Eagle Creek children in kindergarten through 5th grade have STEAM classes with our dedicated STEAM teacher every day. The children also do STEAM activities in their regular classrooms.
What is STEAM?
STEAM is the planned integration of science, technology, engineering, art and math. Eagle Creek children consistently tackle STEAM projects that combine these disciplines, which encourages deep thinking, and friendly collaboration.
How We Learn?
Start with a Strong Science
Each unit is built on the Michigan K–5 Science Standards, ensuring academic depth and consistency. We begin by introducing core content through engaging lessons and classroom discussions.
Learning by Doing
Students dive into hands-on, open-ended projects that bring learning to life. Whether they’re building models, testing prototypes, or conducting experiments, they’re actively engaged in making, tinkering, and problem-solving. These projects help them explore big ideas, apply core concepts in meaningful ways, and develop real-world skills—collaboration, perseverance, and creative thinking.
Integrated Curriculum
Our program naturally blends science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Also, we regularly integrate language arts and social studies, working closely with classroom teachers to create cross-curricular experiences.
Tools & Tech
Students engage with exciting tools and technologies like Bloxels, drones, 3D printers, robots, and a variety of coding apps to design, explore, and demonstrate their learning.
They also get hands-on with simple materials—cardboard, tape, paper, and more—to engineer incredible creations. In our STEAM space, creativity and resourcefulness are just as essential as technology.
Student Voice & Growth Mindset
Students are encouraged to ask questions, test ideas, reflect on their learning, and try again. This mindset helps build confidence, creativity, and a love of learning.
A Look Inside our STEAM Lab
2024 STEAM SHOWCASE
Eagle Creek's students brought the story of the greedy spider and his mysterious marble to life through interactive STEAM activities. Bubbles, student-created games and projects, miniature golf, augmented reality, robots, engineering, and art come together to create one magical event!
Project-based Learning
At Eagle Creek, we teach science through big projects and the total integration of technology, engineering, art, math, reading and writing.
For example, recently, the fourth-grade students watched a series of short videos about plants and animals and how they adapt to the world's major biomes. Then, the children built the world's biomes using Lego bricks. Each ecosystem displayed the plants and animals typically found there, as well as evidence of a food chain. Later, the children wrote scripts explaining the food chains, the animals' defenses, and other ways in which the animals use the environment to survive. The culminating project was a green screen video presentation during which the students narrated their scripts while seeming to be inside their Lego displays.
In another unit, the fourth graders investigated slow changes to the earth with a focus on soil erosion. The challenge for each "farm team" was to design a way to prevent the erosion of their farmland into a nearby river. First, through reading about the Dust Bowl, the children learned about the importance of tall grasses, shrubbery, and tree roots when it comes to keeping soil in its place. They also observed Google images of exposed tree roots along a riverbank to understand how trees bind soil. Then, again through image research, they learned about the strategies terrace farmers use in the mountainous terrain of India, as well as how farmers in ancient Egypt built lake reservoirs and irrigation channels to capture water and guide it into their fields. Finally, the students observed the construction of seawalls along California's coastline. Armed with this rich toolbox of information, the students designed their own soil protections using clay, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, aluminum foil, silverware, straws, and bottle caps. They "purchased" their items within the constraints of a budget and then tested the effectiveness of their designs as they poured water over their models.
As you can see, by integrating science with hands-on activities and technology, engineering, art, math, reading, and writing, ECA's students learn more deeply and practice key 21st-century skills such as collaboration, using technology with purpose, and solving complicated problems.
From Mrs. Weigand,
ECA's Full-time STEAM Teacher
"The STEAM lab at ECA is always buzzing with curiosity and excitement. Together, we explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math through hands-on projects, digital games, simulations, outdoor activities, and team challenges. What could be more fun than that? But it's not just fun. We take everything to the next level. We’re not just building a tower. We’re building a warrior plant with the tallest, strongest stem and the largest flower head possible. Likewise, we’re creating a zipline to study the nutrition needs of an apex predator. We’re producing a fashion-show relay race to show off the adaptations of a camel. These experiences, in which we integrate science with other subject matter, help students understand the world and bring a huge level of engagement. To me, the smiles and laughter are worth all the time preparing. I can’t wait to see what the kids will ask about next."