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STEMterprise spotlight: Mrs. Button’s grade 3 class

Reading time: 3 minutes

One of the great things about Ontario Farming STEMterprise is the opportunity it has given us to connect with teachers and hear how the project works in their classrooms. Teacher feedback helped us conduct a thorough review and revamp STEMterprise as a leaner, more focused project with more hands-on experiences. We even included a surprise or two!

We are continuing to bring you teachers’ experiences. In November we shared our “report card” from Jody Michalofsky and in December, we shared what Crystal Dillon had to say.

STEMterprise Spotlight: Ms. Button’s grade 3 class (OCSB)

“Each lesson is engaging for students and provides a lot of information so you do not need to worry about not knowing much about farming.”

Meghan’s grade 3 class had a lot of fun with STEMterprise! They really enjoyed the hands-on experiences and the Google meet with a farmer, which was amazing. She felt confident knowing the information in the project was built with expertise she knew she could trust.

The students loved making granola bars! Each group developed a recipe and they made each one. Some were big hits right away, while others needed some reworking. Some were baked and some were no-bake recipes. Everyone was proud of their products and enjoyed seeing—and tasting—their creations.

Meghan told us she appreciated feeling prepared using the resources because everything was laid out so well, noting that the project “gives you everything you need for each stage… It is so well put-together and so conducive to the classroom, that it’s a no-brainer!”

Meghan also liked the way the project worked with what her students were already doing.

 “This was so fun!!! We have been working on STEM projects all year so when we had the chance to build a farm machine, we jumped on it. Lots of ideas, helping spread water, helping to plant the seeds, temperature machines—the kids came up with so many ideas.”

Meghan’s Tips for Teachers:

  • Be sure to do the “one is different” activity. It was one of her students’ favourites and a great way to make an otherwise dry topic fun and innovative! (Minds On! in Stage 3, Lesson 1)
  • Take your time with the Starting a Business stage. Consider breaking the students into groups and give them colour coded folders.  
  • Make sure to order the STEMterprise seed kit because you’ll love the cups they send! It makes it easy to do the planting inquiry.  
  • The soil sampling activity is great. Meghan’s class did it as a scavenger hunt and then took it one step further by using Oreo cookies, pudding, and graham wafer crackers to make their own (yummy) soil layer samples.
  • Designing a Recipe. Meghan said she was nervous about this stage, but later felt that she didn’t need to be. The kids had such amazing ideas and there was so much dialogue around ingredients, allergies, what most kids like, and more. They had a collective “aha” moment when they realized that most of the ingredients they could use were grown close by.
  • Meghan worked in many read-alouds, like Boxitects by Kim Smith
  • Start early! They started the project in late spring, so they ran out of time for the Business Showcase. 

Watch the video to see how Meghan’s class did the project.

Thank you to Meghan for sharing her experience! It helped us improve the project. 

We would love to hear your STEMterprise classroom stories! Please consider sharing what is going on in your classroom in this open form survey.  Send us your report card of our performance! And if you can, please send us pictures to include in future updates (email it to: web@gfo.ca).  

For your effort, we’ll draw one lucky name and email the $250 Amazon gift card on June 30, 2025. Tell your colleagues!

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