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STUDY CONTEXT: The overarching goal of this project is to address the disconnect between science, design, and technology (Perignat & Katz-Buonincontro, 2019). We examine how urban and rural high school students benefit from innovative learning experiences in plant science that integrate these disciplines while gaining interest in and skills for future STEM careers. This project tests a STEAM (Art in STEM) teaching model in which students create scientific products to incorporate in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AVR) platforms. This experience inspires creative learning, provides critical thinking and problem-solving benefits, supports concepts of innovation, and allows students to connect to real-life situations impacting their career paths. RESEARCH DESIGN: Objectives: 1. Inspire interest in STEM careers among students and provide them with skills for a future STEM career, 2. Foster knowledge and appreciation of plant science among students, 3. Integrate art/design into STEM plant science education, and 4. Apply AVR technology to advance in plant science education through the use of novel tools and methodologies. Teams of self-identified science, technophile, and art students receive training in 3D modeling. With support from scientists, they create models of plants under research at our institution, write worksheets, and give presentations in public/scientific events. Teams’ products will be shared globally through the education community of our AVR partner institution. To assess the project objectives, we are using a mixed-methods approach using pre/post open-ended self-reflections and surveys (STEM Semantics Survey with additional questions for A (Art/Design); Plant Awareness Disparity Index (PAD-I)). ANALYSES AND INTERPRETATION: Data collection is in its initial stages. We will present preliminary results from surveys and reflections from 28 students. The students worked in seven teams that created models of corn, alfalfa, volvox, and milkweed. CONTRIBUTION: This project contributes to STEAM, an emerging discipline with scant information on theory, best practices, and practical applications, by testing a teaching model in which students design and create scientific products. The project contributes to the body of knowledge on AVR teaching tools from a different approach by allowing the students to create their own AVR products. The project also contributes to interesting and challenging ways to learn about plant science and promote plant awareness.