Can we bring Real World STEM Home?

With schools moving to online teaching and the early start of school holidays in some states, educators and parents around the world are preparing for and engaging and teaching young people at home. This is a great opportunity to bring Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) home for any age. What are the best activities to do at home and online?

There are many organisations who offer free resources, teaching plans and workshops plus more who are making their online resources free during this challenging time. But how do you choose what will work best to engage young people in STEM? When looking for activities to engage the top 4 things I look for are:

1. Relevance to the real world - is this a real world, authentic experience? Is there a why behind this?
2. Language - is it inclusive, open and inviting?
3. Role models - are they positive, relatable role models?
4. Participation and collaboration - can you get hands on (even if it's on your own), is it practical or can we work in a team to solve a problem?

Here are my tops picks for STEM online or at home.

Connect with a real person in STEM

Genius idea from the amazing Dr Cath Ball to #SkypeaScientist or #SkypeanEngineer! I am donating my time until 1 May to Skype into your online classrooms or at home to inspire your students and children about STEM with one of my keynotes or a hands on workshop. Learn more or book in a time with me or one of the other amazing STEM professionals keen to Skype by emailing me at [email protected] or send me a message on Linked In with your interest.

STEM Activities and Resources

There are many fantastic STEM resources and inspiring content available that can be done online or remotely at home. Here are my favourites which have a focus on the real world and they are all FREE!

STEM

• The GIST: Girls in STEM Toolkit has resources to inspire and inform girls, schools and families in STEM. Explore activities, resources, case studies, lessons, study pathways and careers.
• Australia’s Science Channel. Inspiring videos of STEM professionals and ideas for STEM workshops. It is a great showcase of role models and real world examples that you can frame a lesson with.
• STEMpowered, tells the stories of 9 women whose work showcases a diversity of careers, approaches, ideas and fields across games development, wearable technology, environmental science, engineering, cancer research, food waste, genetics, biotech, nanotechnology, mathematics and more. Great role models and inspiration to add the why into a lesson.
• ACARA STEM Connections - a cross-disciplinary approach to the teaching of STEM disciplines. STEM Connections gives guidelines for STEM projects and examples that have already been used in schools that you can implement straight away as a STEM project.
• STEM Academy at the University of Sydney – a fantastic program and there is a sample of STEM resources that schools have implemented. There are both high school and primary school programs.
• The Exploratorium - one of my favourite holiday adventures was to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. They have a great range of online STEM learning and have designed some just for COVID-19.

Real World Maths

• Resolve Maths by Inquiry. Resolve resources promote fluency, deep understanding, strategic problem solving, and mathematical reasoning for K to 12.
• Maths In Real Life by Machinam. Use the real world maths of fashion design, festival organisers, car crash investigators or water engineers to learn Year 9 and 10 maths. Get Maths In Real Life for FREE until 30 June!!! Email me at [email protected] and I will set you up as a class with your students or as an individual for parents wanting to support your children.

Engineering

• Teach Engineering has an abundance of K to 12 resources for teachers and workshops for home schooling. While it is based in the US curriculum there are thousands of ideas.

Science

• Street Science usually runs in person science shows and now they are running virtual classrooms. Check our their facebook page for more info.

Technology Drones and Space!

• World of Drones Education – see the practical and real world ways drones can help people. Loads of free resources and videos created by industry experts and educational leaders.
• Pixar In a Box is a behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar artists do their jobs. You will be able to animate bouncing balls, build a swarm of robots, and make virtual fireworks explode. The subjects you learn in school — math, science, computer science, and humanities — are used every day to create amazing movies at Pixar.
• Grok Learning have a range of coding workshops, competitions and resources like their latest cyber security challenges where students get to be hackers. You can start for free as a teacher and they are offering free resources for the next few weeks.
• NASA Kids Club – some very fun space games to play.

Like what you see here?

Get inspiration and insights like this delivered to your inbox by subscribing here or learn more about the author, Felicity Furey, here.