Thanks to all of the teachers at the Science of Wind professional development seminar that  I presented in today.  Here is a link to the presentation I used -   http://prezi.com/wrpundgkae8x/science-of-wind-presentation/.  Also, while you are on the STEM People site, you can take a look at the resources available for STEM and for the Science of Wind.  Contact me any time at bret.carpenter@thesensibletechnologist.com.

This is a thank you to everyone that showed up at the Flagstaff YMCA/Northern Arizona College Resource Center - http://www.nacrc.net/ for the STEM Careers workshop.  I hope you all got something out of it.  Here is the link to the "Prezi" presentation that I used - http://prezi.com/dvc_pkz1gsmn/stem-careers/.  I will be posting some new resources on the site in the near future.  The Prezi link will also be in the resources section.  To navigate the Prezi, use the "More" button on the lower right hand corner of the presentation window and choose "Fullscreen".  You can either click on the areas you are interested in to zoom into them or use the arrows on the bottom of the screen to navigate forward.  The links within the boxes bring you to outside resources.  Enjoy.

JPL and NASA have come up with a fun way to experience the Mars Rover "Spirit" and it's journey on the surface of mars.  Go to http://exploremars.jpl.nasa.gov/Spirit, intall the plug-in it requires and drive the rover.  This is a beta preview look - NASA will be adding more content to the experience as it goes forward.

http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/scientist/ - This is a great website to get the human side of being a scientist.  The site has profiles and videos of scientists in a number of different fields.  

Take a look at this post in eSchool News - http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/07/28/five-things-students-say-they-want-from-education/.  It is nice to see some consideration from the student point of view.  The number one thing - Real-world application and relevancy.  STEM education can provide the relevance that students want.  

The following is a link to an "infographic" about the lack of STEM capable graduates that are coming out of our universities and the need for STEM capable teachers.  I believe that we need to move forward in encouraging more interest in STEM fields from elementary school forward and use more STEM related curriculum in general instruction.  STEM subjects can be unifying themes for curriculum and would bring more of the real world into the classroom.

The STEM Dilemma - http://www.good.is/post/infographic-solving-the-stem-dilemma/

http://www.khanacademy.org/ - is a great resource for students to learn just about any math subject.  Sal Kahn created this system starting with a pen tablet, a screen recorder and a PC.  Mr. Kahn works his way through each concept by working the virtual problems will narrating and providing strategies for solving the problems.  Very simple and very effective.

Students can make use of our extensive video library, practice exercises, and assessments from any computer with access to the web.  Coaches, parents, and teachers have visibility into what their students are learning and doing on the Khan Academy via a built in tracking system.

This is a non-profit organization and all of the content is free.  Really, really great stuff.  Take a look at it for any level of math that your students (or yourself!) may need.

I ran across this wonderful STEM resource the other day - eGFI.  The  name eGFI evolved from the name of a  magazine - Engineering, Go For It! that is produced by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).  

egfi-k12.org  is a website with resources aimed to allow kids to explore engineering careers.  There is an online version of the Engineering, Go For It magazine; short introductions to different engineering careers, many "meet a student" opportunities, and a student blog that has stories related to what is going on in different engineering fields.
For teachers, there is http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/ which has lesson plans, class activities, features, links, and news.   The resources are sorted by grade levels and type of activity.  There are PDF lesson plans, videos, and background resources for each topic.  There are currently 138 lesson plans on the site, 99 class activities and 388 "outreach" resources.

Overall, it is a great resource and I encourage anyone wanting to bring STEM into the classroom to take a look.  As with many of this type of site, you have to figure out how to integrate the lessons and tie in standards.  If you would like more integrated content, look at our blog post about Defined STEM which is a commercial resource (you need to pay for it) but has a complete integration of content all the way to state standards.

Defined STEM (http://stem.definedlearning.com/) is our favorite commercial resource for STEM content and curriculum.  This is not just because our sponsor, Orig'native, is a supplier of the software.  

Defined STEM has developed a great system that takes people that do STEM related jobs in the real world and allows them to talk about what they do on a level that students can understand.  Defined STEM then gives students an opportunity to walk in that person's shoes for a little bit and produce a project related to that career through a "Performance Task".

For the teacher, Defined STEM gives them the background information to understand the industry and job that the individual is doing.  There are also rubrics, examples of projects, leading questions, and interactive resources to work with.

Contact Orig'native for more info and help.

Design Squad (http://pbskids.org/designsquad/) is one of my favorite STEM related organizations.  They are a part of PBS and started as a TV show for middle school students to participate in "design challenges" that made teams of students work together to develop a solution for a problem.

They are now an organization with lesson plans and curriculum to encourage the use of STEM and design principles in classrooms.  Take a look at the Parents and Educators section to see resources, lesson plans, and examples for the use of their content.  The also have a "Build it Big" contest going on right now.

We would love to get some community based programs going to help get kids interested in design and engineering.  Let us know if you have an interest by using our Contact Us page.