Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to highlight as a good practice the application of the STEAM approach in a kindergarten class, in order to understand the students the stages of the olive oil production process, but also to acquire more general knowledge about the olive tree and its derivatives. The occasion for the development of this teaching practice was the participation of the particular kindergarten class in a national Educational Robotics Competition from WRO Hellas with the theme “Agricultural production – The wealth of my country”. Through a long-term project based on the STEAM approach, the participating toddlers were able to get to know the process of olive oil production and to be introduced to the computational and mathematical way of thinking by creating algorithms that guided Beebot (an educational robot) through each stage of the olive oil production process. The teaching methods used were mainly exploratory and collaborative, whose approach was based on intersubjectivity and interdisciplinarity with a strong experiential element, as well as the involvement of the local and wider community. The goals that were achieved enabled the toddlers to reshape their knowledge, improve their skills, related to algorithmic thinking, coding, experimentation, communication and research. The results from this educational application are diffused through the creation of a video, which received the special award entitled “Best Presentation of a Local Product” for the “Kindergarten” category, as well as presentations to the local and wider community.
