How many of use chose careers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics because of our experiences in school? Some topics or activities must have stimulated our interest and curiosity, and the authors in this month’s edition share some of their suggestions for integrating these topics to develop student interests in STEM.
Teaching with Laptops describes how this technology can provide variety of applications to differentiate assignments and activities, The PhET Simulations, mentioned in the article, have online visualizations in the sciences and math that allow the student to manipulate variables and analyze the results. (I wish my college physics classes would have had this type of visual learning tool.) The article also has a chart showing how the technology is an integral part of warm-up activities, investigations, assessments, and homework. The authors suggest adaptations for classrooms that do not have 1:1 computers.
“Finding real-world scientific data for use in the science classroom can be a challenge,” according to Solar Radiation: Harnessing the Power. In this activity, students used one of the real data sets from NASA (My NASA Data), students develop skills in analyzing and graphing data as they learned about Solar Energy. Another source of real-life data sets is a resource from NOAA: Data in the Classroom. Each earth-science related module has five levels of lessons ranging from teacher-presented ones through letting students explore the data to full-blown problem solving and invention. Each module shows the associated data in a variety of formats and guides the users through how to interpret it.
Drawing a diagram, labeling a handout, or dissecting a cow heart are useful activities in studying anatomy. But the author fo Working Model Hearts describes a project in which students make a working model to demonstrate their learning in physiology. Check out SciLinks for more resources about the heart.
The illustrated timeline in Our Polar Past shows that much of the exploration has taken place within the past 100 years. As students study the history of these explorations (which did not have the communications or survival technology of today), they can also get an update on recent explorations from Polar Discovery, including video clips, interviews with the scientists, and a comparison of the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Earlier this month, President Obama announced the establishment of National Lab Day, a new science education initiative aimed at improving labs and inquiry-based science experiences for students in grades 6–12. The project website has many interesting possibilities for STEM projects, including a request for volunteer assistance and lists of resources.