OctoStudio Explorations

Looking for project ideas to inspire K–8 student makers and coders? Check out the Exploratorium’s OctoStudio Explorations web page. Developed through the museum’s Tinkering Studio, the projects presented offer opportunities for students to combine everyday materials with coding practice. The projects use OctoStudio, a no-cost creative coding application for mobile devices developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group (creators of Scratch and the Computer Clubhouse) with input from the Tinkering Studio. The application is suitable for classroom/school use as it does not collect personal data or require a network connection or data after the initial download.

Selected projects include activities such as Bring a Book to Life, in which students use code to animate the pages of a favorite story; Making Faces, in which students create portraits with hands-on materials, then animate the faces using code; and Tinker With a View, in which students build a cardboard window frame and create interactive, animated scenes within the window.

Primary Source Set: Inventions and Innovations 

How do new technologies and ideas come to be? High school students can reflect on this question through a set of primary sources exploring Inventions and Innovations from the Library of Congress. The set contains 18 primary sources in various formats, including photographs, prints, manuscripts, and newspapers. The sources span more than 150 years of U.S. history and represent a range of inventive processes, such as identifying problems and designing solutions, building prototypes and iterating designs, collaborating with others, persevering through challenges, communicating findings, or navigating the business and legal landscapes.

Highlighted sources include early telephone drawings from Alexander Graham Bell’s personal notebooks, a handwritten manuscript providing unique insights into how Morse Code was developed, and a newspaper article recounting how George Washington Carver opened the eyes of U.S. legislators to new agricultural practices. Other notable sources are an article written by Thomas Edison on the value of perseverance—aimed at inventors themselves—and a feature on Beulah Louise Henry, an inventor so prolific in the early 20th century she was dubbed “Lady Edison.” The set provides background information and teaching ideas to help students analyze these unique pieces of history and deepen their understanding of the role of invention and innovation in society.

Wild Hope Video Series

Wild Hope is an eight-episode video series for high school and undergraduate learners that highlights examples of how communities across the United States and worldwide are coming together in unexpected ways to protect nature and the environment. Produced by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) BioInteractive, the approximately 30-minute videos showcase innovative environmental solutions and partnerships that are benefitting humans and other species.

For example, Canine Conservationists describes an Australian initiative in which dogs are partnering with people to save species from threats to the island continent’s unique fauna. Salamanders of the Gods showcases scientists and farmers in Mexico who are working together to conserve the axolotl, a species almost extinct in the wild. Beaver Fever highlights how the return of beavers to the British countryside is increasing local biodiversity, reducing the flooding in villages, and restoring wilderness to a formerly nature-deprived landscape. Episodes based in the United States include The Big Oyster, which explores community-wide efforts to restore wild oysters—a keystone environmental species—to the New York Harbor, and Woodpecker Wars, which brings together an unlikely collaboration of scientists, soldiers, and landowners in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to help save the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker. Every episode is accompanied by an Educator Guide with background information, key concepts, and discussion questions, as well as a program transcript.

ORISE December STEM Review Spotlight Social Media Contest

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) wants to know the most creative strategy you use to review with your students. To enter the contest, follow ORISE on social media, fill out a brief survey on their website, and comment your answer on the post. Three randomly selected teachers will receive a classroom supplies kit valued at more than $300 that includes cleaning supplies, desk supplies, treats for the students, and more. (Deadline December 31)

Edward C. Roy Jr. Award for Excellence in K–8 Earth Science Teaching
 
The award consists of a $2,500 prize for the winning teacher and a grant of up to $1,500 to enable the recipient to attend the NSTA National Conference in Philadelphia in March 2025. The winning teacher and their school each will receive a plaque of recognition. To be eligible, an applicant must be a full-time U.S. or U.K. classroom teacher who currently provides instruction in Earth science at the K–8 or Key Stages 1–3 level with all the responsibilities of this position, including leadership and innovation in Earth science education. (Deadline January 17, 2025)

Teacher Innovator Institute
 
Middle school science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) teachers will be on-site in Washington, D.C., during July 7–18, 2025, and July 13–24, 2026, working with education and STEAM experts to explore the connections between informal STEAM education and authentic learning. Through hands-on activities, museum tours, visits to other museums, group work, and expertise from museum educators and content experts, teachers will use aerospace science, history, and technology to shape their ideas about authentic learning and bring informal education techniques into their classrooms. Participants will also have opportunities to connect with their cohort and museum staff several times during the school year. Teachers will participate at no charge, and most expenses (lodging, food, and travel) will be paid by the museum.

Efforts will be made to enroll a cohort that supports a diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environment. Early career educators, educators of color, LGBTQ+ educators, educators with disabilities, and educators working in the public schools, particularly Title I schools, are strongly encouraged to apply. The application deadline is January 20, 2025. Participants will remain with the program for two summers, returning to Washington, D.C., in year two to reconnect, develop their practice, and mentor the newest class of Teacher Innovators.