STEM is the acronym used to refer to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. A student's proficiency at STEM subjects gives the student confidence and greater problem solving skills. It is also a good predictor of post-high school success, employment security, and lifelong income. What can YOUR PTA do to create STEM opportunities at your school this year? How about a math or science night? Here are some resources from National PTA and other great sites!
1. Summer Brain Games from Chicago’s Museum of Science + Industry
https://www.msichicago.org/experiment/summer-brain-games/activities/more-activities/
2. Design Squad – ideas for science and engineering activities in an informal setting. Design squad is also a TV program with episodes that can be viewed online.
https://pbskids.org/designsquad/
3. How To Smile – Engineering and science activities for kids from Pre-K on.
https://www.howtosmile.org/
4. NASA for Kids & Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Ideas for making pop rockets, pizza box solar oven, and paper comets.
https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/ or https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/
5. National Engineers Week – Provides tested activities to introduce in the classroom. They also have biographies of a variety of engineers.
http://www.discovere.org/
6. SciGirls – An online extension of the PBS program, engages girls in STEM through hands-on projects and inquiry-based learning.
https://pbskids.org/scigirls/
7. Science Buddies – Provides ideas for science fair projects and at-home science experiments.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/
8. Techbridge – Inspires girls to discover a passion for technology, science, and engineering.
https://techbridgegirls.org/
9. Wonderwise – Through multimedia kits, introduces students and teachers to women who work in the sciences.
http://wonderwise.unl.edu/
10. Zoom into Engineering – For parents, this PBS site offers fun hands-on science and engineering projects like Gumdrop Dome and Egg Bungee Jump.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/zoom/engineering/
11. Rosie Revere, Engineer – Rosie Revere tells the story of a girl and her dream to become a great engineer. The author’s site has many fun science links, including one to the Rosie Revere, Engineer STEM Event Kit.
https://www.andreabeaty.com/rosie-revere-engineer.html
https://www.scribd.com/doc/243346679/Rosie-Revere-STEM-Event-Kit
12. STEM + Families: Hosting a Math Event sponsored by Mathnasium. Mathnasium will provide free math nights for your school. They bring the games and PTA provides the tables and the volunteers. For more information contact a local mathnasium.
https://www.pta.org/stem/math/toolkit
13. What’s happening at the STEM Action Center Utah?
https://stem.utah.gov/
Social Studies and More!
Be curious and explore the world from your desktop with the Kids National Geographic website.
Teach your kids to recognize false advertizing! March 2-8 is National Consumer Protection Week. It would be a good time to to teach kids to be smart consumers. Try out some fun online games that challenge kids to comparison shop to make wise purchases and to recognize false advertising.
Game: You Are Here - An Online Mall Shopping Game (requires Flash!)
The Consumer Action Handbook also offers information on a variety of consumer topics .
The Museum in the Classroom -- or Home
The National Gallery of Art’s Children’s Video Tour - Time Travel is an exceptional online resource that takes students on a tour into famous paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Leonardo Da Vinci, Claude Monet and more. Each featured painting has a video that brings the painting to life by providing commentary about the artist, the model(s), and interesting details about each work of art. Students can explore “Saint George and the Dragon” by Raphael or learn details about Mary Cassatt’s career by clicking on her painting, “The Boating Party.” If you can’t take your students to the museum, this is a wonderful way to bring the museum to your students.
Financial Literacy
There are many reasons that children should learn to save and spend money wisely. Parents may be interested in resources that help them to teach financial literacy at home. PTA leaders may want to craft an activity at the school around this theme too.
Check out Money as You Grow, an online, interactive tool to give families a guideline for teaching kids 3 to 18 (and even beyond) important money lessons, like how to make good choices when spending, how to avoid debt, and why it's important to save for an emergency.
Civics Education
A series celebrating the 225th Anniversary of the United States' Constitution was developed by Lydia Nuttal in Morgan, Utah and is being used in the Morgan School District. It is found on the Morgan City website. It is called "Forgotten American Family Night Stories" and is easily adapted to family, PTA meeting, classroom, or after school program use. Ms Nuttall holds the copyright but has given permission for non-commercial use.
Here are links to the first five sets of materials: January, February, March, April, May. Check out the Morgan City website for additional topics!
Civics Education has a champion in Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The project she is promoting is called iCivics and can be found at this website. It features games that kids can play from the website and also has lesson plans that can be adapted for the classroom or an AfterSchool program. Click here for a blog report on Justice O'Connor's motivation and involvement.
Find resources as varied as our country at Kids.gov.
Additional Educational Programs for Local PTAs
Scripps National Spelling Bee: Pre-enrollment in the 2018 Bee is available now through October 14, 2017 for $145 per school
www.spellingbee.com
Open to Grades 1-8
For local information contact the following:
Bryan Scott (bryan@mycityjournals.com) or Melissa Worthen (melissa@mycityjournals.com)
801-254-5974
National Geographic Bee: On-line registration available now through December 21, 2017 for $120 per school
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/student-experiences/geobee/
Open to Grades 4-8
Utah History Day:
https://heritage.utah.gov/history/utah-history-day
Open to any Utah Student in grades 4-12 at no cost. Students can participate even if their school does not.
District Science and Engineering Fairs:
https://stem.utah.gov/students/fairs-camps-clubs/
Rules vary among districts and location. Check out this website for more information.
Poetry Out Loud: Registration for 2017-2018 opens August 22, 2017
https://heritage.utah.gov/arts-and-museums/ops-competition-poetry-out-loud
Open to Grades 9-12
Utah State Senate Visual Arts Scholarship Competition:
https://heritage.utah.gov/arts-and-museums/arts-ed-learning
Grades 9-12