This planning grant addresses the issue of students losing interest in STEM during the ages of 8-12 years. The PIs propose that STEM content provided through electronic media will be more readily accepted by youth because it is on their "home turf." IMX.org will be a new, highly engaging, online destination for tweens and kids at large. It is designed to leverage the Web 2.0 and tweens' fascination with media and popular culture, and to demonstrate the connections between the real world, everyday life, and STEM. The project will test a preliminary design with a focus group of 8-12 year-olds, convene a panel of experts and Advisory Board, and create a beta Web site to conduct formative research.
STEM Integration in K-12 Education examines current efforts to connect the STEM disciplines in K-12 education. This report identifies and characterizes existing approaches to integrated STEM education, both in formal and after- and out-of-school settings. The report reviews the evidence for the impact of integrated approaches on various student outcomes, and it proposes a set of priority research questions to advance the understanding of integrated STEM education. STEM Integration in K-12 Education proposes a framework to provide a common perspective and vocabulary for researchers
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TEAM MEMBERS:
National Research CouncilMargaret HoneyGreg PearsonHeidi Schweingruber
This toolkit provides materials to better prepare role models to engage girls in STEM. The toolkit provides instructional materials, activities, and professional development resources.
The Challenger Reach 2 U program will reach over 6,500 fourth-grade students in 261 missions from underserved communities throughout southwest Colorado and northwestern New Mexico, including primarily rural, lower socio-economic status, Hispanic and Native American districts that seldom have such STEM educational opportunities. The Colorado Consortium for Earth and Space Science Education (CCESSE) will show that increasing the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is not only a NASA goal set at the national level and a state and local priority, but is the underlying core competency of our organization as well. As an integral part of our Challenger Reach 2 U proposal to motivate interest in STEM curriculum and to strengthen the Nation's future workforce, we will thoroughly train teachers of these students to be more comfortable with technology and more prepared to deliver motivational STEM lessons, leaving an educational legacy that will greatly outlive the life of this grant. We will provide these students with cross-curricular preparatory lessons which will culminate with an exciting simulated space mission delivered in their own classrooms and moderated by a "NASA" mission director at our Center. With the help of the NASA grant, all of these services will be provided at no cost to the schools.
Bridging Earth and Mars (BEAM): Engineering Robots to Explore the Red Planet engages the general public and K-8 students in exhibits and programs designed to foster awareness of robotic technology, computer programming, and the challenges and opportunities inherent in NASA missions and S-STEM careers. The Saint Louis Science Center (SLSC) of St. Louis, Missouri is the lead institution and project site; partners include Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, the St. Louis regional FIRST Robotics organization, and the Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis. Project goals are to: 1) inform, engage, and inspire the public to appreciate NASA’s Mission by sharing findings and information about NASA’s missions to Mars; 2) ignite interest in S-STEM topics and careers for diverse K-8 students; and, 3) encourage students in grades 6-8 to sustain participation in educational experiences along the S-STEM careers pipeline. The SLSC will design and build a Martian surface and panorama where two rovers can be remotely controlled. Visitors in the McDonnell Planetarium will use controllers to program rover exploration of the Martian landscape in real-time. Visitors in SLSC’s Cyberville gallery, located one-quarter mile away across a highway-spanning enclosed bridge, will program the second rover with simulated time lag and view its movements via a two-way camera system. SLSC will organize and host a series of Innovation Workshops for K-8 students, each featuring teamwork-building engineering challenges from current and updated NASA-based science curricula. Participants will be recruited from SLSC community partners, which include community centers and faith-based programs for underserved families.
The Aviation Adventure Center with Traveling Flight Science Lab is a three-year project developed by the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California with the intention to deliver immersive STEM programming focused on aeronautics, physical science, weather and general aviation subjects for a general museum audience and K-12 school groups. The lead institution is the Hiller Aviation Museum with additional museum partners including Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, in Pueblo, Colorado, Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas, and New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The two goals of the project are 1) to create an in-house laboratory-style program area, called Aviation Adventure Center, permanently located within the exhibition gallery of the Hiller Aviation Museum and 2) to create a traveling flight simulation program/exhibit, called Traveling Flight Science Lab, that toured four aviation museums, listed above. During three years of the project a total of 48,530 participants were served in 4,476 programs. The project concluded in June, 2012. The Aviation Adventure Center continues as a centerpiece of Hiller Aviation Museum programming to this day.
The Mars Exploration Exhibit is a new public exhibition designed to provide experiential learning opportunities for students, educators and the public while inspiring greater excitement about space science. The exhibit emphasizes the importance of STEM education and careers through practical application and inquiry-based learning. Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of Johnson Space Center, is creating the new Mars landscape simulation in partnership with the Houston Independent School District and University of Houston Clear Lake. The exhibit will offer interactive science education activities that will be delivered through distance learning and onsite instruction at Space Center Houston. Utilizing research-based practices in both formal and informal learning environments, the project will help to attract and retain students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It will also foster life-long learning and enthusiasm toward the promise of space science and innovation. This unique exhibit will enable students and Space Center Houston’s more than 800,000 annual visitors to increase their knowledge of Earth science and apply their learning to the Mars environment. The exhibit will also highlight the role NASA missions serve in scientific innovation. The project will build the capacity of the Greater Houston community and school-based organizations to engage girls, minorities and other underrepresented students in STEM learning. It will offer in-depth science education for low-performing and gifted/talented students, ultimately bridging achievement gaps, increasing student performance and cultivating greater interest in science. Project outcomes will include: a 1,500-square-foot Mars landscape exhibition; interactive video presentations highlighting water recovery and other environmental processes; a standards-based learning curriculum aligned with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS ) and National Science Standards; and a menu of K-12 experiential learning activities focused on water, air, renewable energy and other critical science topics.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Janet BrownMelanie JohnsonPaul SpanaMeg Naumann
This article reflects on the author's experience leading the 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) program, which aimed to create a "culture of STEM" for both participants and staff. The author describes the experience of the children, the training of staff, and places for improvement.
A three-day art project in an afterschool program with no specific arts component illustrates the potential—and the challenges—of engaging children in creating art using recycled materials.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Angela EckhoffAmy HallenbeckMindy Spearman
The article discusses an effective physical science center, which can be incorporated on the reading instructions of teachers, the inclined plane center, that helps enhance science teaching. It mentions that to create an inclined plane center, one must collect various objects that roll, slide and wobble and wooden cove molding for the tracks. The author thinks that it is not necessary to understand everything about force and motion, what is important is offering students with opportunities for concrete experiences.
The article discusses the Helen M. Marshall Children's Library Discovery Center in Jamaica, New York. The resource center is designed to encourage science learning, reflect the cultural aspects of Queens, New York, and allow students to engage in science experiments. Exhibits mentioned in the article include bug observations, color mixing, and using touch sensors to identify objects. Other topics discussed by the author include incorporating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education, library outreach programs, and teenagers on the library staff.
The article discusses strategies for public libraries to offer programs and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and activity programs. The author comments on how public libraries can partner with businesses to offer STEM resources to library patrons and strengthen the role public libraries play in terms of education in their communities. Topics include the possibility of public libraries learning from science fairs to incorporate displays and nonfiction book lists that promote science, as well as strategies to organize nonfiction book holdings.