Textbooks aren't extinct yet, but a new style of education is creating a buzz in Lehighton Area School District.

Tiffany Strausberger's third-grade class at Franklin Elementary School is piloting the Full Option Science System program in its daily curriculum as part of a districtwide Science Technology Engineering Math immersion initiative.Students are currently studying magnets and electricity and have worked in small groups to make discoveries in magnetism, magnetic force and simple circuitry.Projects have included making a simple circuit with a light bulb and a motor, as well as learning how to make schematic drawings like electrical engineers."I think it allows the students to really become independent," Strausberger said. "It's a unique style of learning because instead of the traditional teaching from the textbook and then taking a test on it, these students are learning how to do something and then understanding how it happens. It's almost the reverse effect."The district is building off the success of its STEM Plus Academy, which earned it accolades as a recipient of the National Education Foundation 2016 STEM Leadership Award.Lehighton started a STEM immersion initiative over the summer based on a three-year plan."STEM-fluent students will be able to communicate, collaborate, think critically, create and innovate when demonstrating how to navigate complex questions, investigate global issues and develop solutions for real-world problems," said Tim Tkach, the district's curriculum director. "We are using a holistic approach that is more than just adding in a discipline here and there in our curriculum. It's about creatively teaching and collaborating to teach content in a connected, nonisolated way and a way to make important real-world connections across all disciplines and content areas."Students do some STEM lessons in kindergarten through second grade, but Strausberger's classroom features a full curriculum."The earlier students start doing STEM, the more advantage they are going to have," she said. "I see a lot more possibilities for them, not just in the classroom, but when they get out into the real world as well. A lot of our girls maybe didn't think they could be engineers or scientists and now they know what they're capable of. It gives them a lot of self-confidence and the retention level is through the roof."Strausberger said the concepts will build to students making electromagnets, conductor detectors, as well as telegraphs in which they will communicate in different rooms using Morse code.The class will be finishing up its two weeks studying circuits and move on to a module on structures of life."Students will be growing plants via hydroponics and discovering animal behaviors," Strausberger said. "We are getting a shipment of crayfish and beetles. We'll be studying the crayfish to see how they mark their territory and interact with each other. We'll also have harnesses to attach to the beetles to study their strength and show how much weight they can carry."Learning doesn't stop in the classroom.Students have been doing monthly family STEM projects and practicing their presentation skills to share their successes and failures."The kids and their self-sufficiency and independence really amazes me," Strausberger said. "They are young and have such an open mind. I think their innocence really plays to their advantage when it comes to STEM."