Reading, Gaming, and Making, Oh My!: STEAM Education throughout History

In 1592 the French author Simon Girault published "Globe du monde," which presents the astronomy and cosmology of the time to a young audience. Originally written for Girault’s own children, the book is structured as a dialogue between two presumably young persons, Charles and Marguerite. The dialogue format was frequently used in science publications for children and young people, especially from the 18th century onwards. 

This mid-19th century diagram compares the relative sizes and distances of the planets of the solar system. It is part of a set of transparencies that, as the name indicates, can be lit from behind, making the respective images glow. This simple visual trick worked with the magic lantern slides that were widely used at the time to animate public lectures. It helped capture the attention of young learners, and was applied to several aids produced and sold during this period. 

The Aquarius Project engages teen explorers from Chicago with the search for fragments of a meteorite nearly the size of a minivan that crashed into Lake Michigan on February 6, 2017. Not only are these teens keen participants in the research conducted by the project, they actively share their stories about it through a podcast and a blog titled “The Aquarius Project: The First Student-Driven Underwater Meteorite Hunt." By using modern media to address their adventures and achievements as well as their setbacks and lessons learned, they inspire fellow young explorers to embrace the joys and challenges of scientific research.

In the 19th century, devices like this tellurian (a mechanical model of the Sun-Earth-Moon system) became a common presence in schools and other learning institutions, as well as in the family homes of the middle class. When the model is cranked, the motions of the Earth and the Moon in space are recreated before bystanders, many of whom would have been young people and children learning the basic concepts of astronomy. 

A group of children visiting the Adler Planetarium in 1983 attentively watch what happens when a sphere is released into a “Newton’s well”, a type of display used to this day to explain gravity and black holes. This sort of exhibit gained popularity in science museums, especially from the 1960s onwards. Though it still requires a mostly passive audience, it provides visitors, especially younger ones, with exciting demonstrations of concepts in physics.

Pocket globes became popular in the 18th century. At once toys and educational aids, they covered both Earth and sky, by showing the constellations on the interior of a two-hemisphere case that contained a terrestrial globe. Their small size made them suitable to be handled by children, and thus to be used in the family environment to teach basic concepts in astronomy and geography. 

With the rise of a middle class able to spend money on educational materials for young learners, 19th-century authors kept on exploring varied approaches to the study of astronomy. This illustration is part of a book that promises to help students easily memorize the names and features of the celestial bodies and to perform astronomical calculations mentally, through associations between images and stories in verse. 

Young telescope enthusiasts examine homemade instruments exhibited during a telescope fair hosted by the Adler Planetarium in the 1960s. Shortly after it opened in 1930, the Adler Planetarium opened its doors to the Amateur Telescope Movement, which engaged people of all ages in the United States and around the world with astronomical observing and the making of telescopes. 

The Astro-Science Workshop (ASW) at the Adler Planetarium is a fun, intensive program about space exploration designed for high school students in the Chicago-area. ASW began more than 50 years ago during the space race and Apollo program and counts numerous scientists, engineers, business leaders, and a former NASA astronaut as alumni. ASW encourages participants to consider pursuing careers in science by offering the unique opportunity to work n hands-on activities with astronomers, engineers, and educators at the Adler Planetarium.