Teaching Today MN - STEM/STEAM

STEM/STEAM

Check out new resources and education news each month in the free print copy of Teaching Today!

STEM-Wide Resources

Concord Consortium
The Concord Consortium is a non-profit organization that helps develop technologies for math, science and engineering education. Their free, open source software is available for teachers to download to use in their classes.
http://www.concord.org/projects
NBC Learn
NBC Learn, in partnership with the National Science Foundation, explores the science, technology, engineering and math found in current events.
http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn/science-behind-the-news
Siemen's STEM Academy
Share your STEM related resources that may prove useful for others who want to expand their classroom materials and grow your own library of resources by browsing this collection of free resources already submitted by your peers.
http://www.siemensstemacademy.com/
index.cfm?event=showResource
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Salmon Khan’s online portal
With over 2,700 videos and 240 practice exercises, you and your students can learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace free. Each video is approximately 10 minutes long, and especially purposed for viewing on the computer.
http://www.khanacademy.org/

Technology

Five free tethering apps for your Android device
Each lets you connect to your cellular network without rooting your phone, so you can surf the web on your own personal hotspot.
http://mashable.com/2012/08/16/free-tethering-apps/
Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum
This free, pioneering curriculum is designed to empower students to be smart about how they create, communicate, and treat others in our 24/7 digital world.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators
GetNetWise
GetNetWise is a public service brought to you to help ensure that internet users have safe, constructive, and educational or entertaining online experiences.
http://www.getnetwise.org/about/
NetSmartz
Empower your students to be safer online with our free collection of teaching materials for primary, intermediate, middle school, and high school grade levels.
http://www.netsmartz.org/Educators
EDU 2.0
Teachers can share their lesson plans, quizzes, videos, experiments and other resources in a shared library that currently hosts more than 15,000 pieces of content and everything is hosted in the cloud for free.
http://www.edu20.org/
Audacity
Audacity® is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Guide seeks to help teachers manage online videos
MindShift's "Teachers' Guide to Using Videos" offers advice for teachers interested in using the vast library of videos available on YouTube and elsewhere in classroom lessons. The guide, written in collaboration with educator Catlin Tucker, seeks to help teachers winnow down the available videos and answer questions regarding video quality, where to go to get the best educational videos and how such videos should be used.
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/teachers-ultimate-guide-to-using-videos/
Cyber Security Tips

https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/tips
Jing

If you’re teaching kids about tech or just about anything else, a great screenshot program is essential. Jing is one great option that allows teachers to take screenshots as images, record up to five minutes or videos then edit and share the results.

https://www.techsmith.com/jing.html
Stat Planet

(Formerly StatPlanet Map Maker) is free, award-winning software for creating interactive maps which are fully customizable. In addition to maps, the software also has the option of including interactive graphs and charts to create feature-rich infographics.

http://www.statsilk.com/maps/statplanet-world-bank-open-data
Wordle

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.

http://www.wordle.net/
WordTalk

A free Windows text-to-speech plugin for Microsoft Word. It will speak the text of the document and will highlight it as it goes. It contains a talking dictionary and a text-to-mp3 converter.

http://www.wordtalk.org.uk/Home/
Toontastic

Toontastic is a storytelling and creative learning tool that enables kids to draw, animate, and share their own cartoons with friends and family around the world through simple and fun imaginative play!

Free download

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toontastic/id404693282?mt=8

Math

Impact: Earth!
With this tool your students can enter the projectile parameters, angle and velocity to calculate what would happen if an object were to actually hit Earth. You can also get the details on the projectiles that caused famous craters.
http://www.purdue.edu/impactearth/
Fresh Baked Fractions
"Fresh Baked Fraction"—part of the FunBrain.com Web site—lets kids in grades 4–6 test their fraction skills by reading and answering multiple choice fraction questions.
http://www.funbrain.com/fract/index.html
Math Cats
This Web site is a highly interactive site geared to children ages 12 and under. It includes a math art gallery, Microworlds and Logo programming and math questions on a "magic chalkboard."
http://www.mathcats.com/
Welcome to Zona Land
This web site functions as a resource for those who want to study physics, the mathematical sciences, or mathematics in general, but are having a difficult time with textbooks or other approaches.
http://zonalandeducation.com/
Teachers' Domain: Mathematics
This Web site contains a wide variety of resources for the elementary and middle school classrooms.
http://www.teachersdomain.org/collection/k12/math/
Moffsoft FreeCalc
Some features of this calculator include a printable and savable tape, sizeable display, system tray icon, always on top setting, digit groupings, flat button option, and color schemes.
http://www.moffsoft.com/
Census Videos

Cool videos that show the value of math and statistics to research, learn, and resolve problems.

http://www.census.gov/schools/videos/
Figure This Math Challenges

Figure This! emphasizes the importance of high-quality math education for all students; find presentations and handouts for your class.

http://figurethis.nctm.org/teacher_corner.htm
Fun Math Games, Activities, and Videos

PBS Cyberchase has a lot of fun math stuff that younger kids will really like.

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/find-it/
Math Games

Math games bring out kids' natural love of numbers. Get them hooked on math with fun, bite-size activities! This article presents 15 ideas, in 15 minutes or less.

http://eric.ed.gov/?q=math&pg=6&id=EJ993186
Practical Uses of Math and Science

PUMAS is examples showing how math and science topics taught in K-12 classes can be used in interesting settings, including everyday life.

https://pumas.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Dave's Math Tables: English/Spanish Dictionary

List of English math vocabulary words with the Spanish equivalent. A Romanian-Spanish version of this page and a German-English math dictionary also exists.

http://math2.org/math/spanish/eng-spa.htm

Science

The Periodic Table of Videos
Tables charting the chemical elements have been around since the 19th century - but this modern version has a short video about each one.
http://www.periodicvideos.com/index.htm
Teach the Earth
Teach the Earth is a portal into the rich geoscience education content available through dozens of independent project websites.
http://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/index.html
NASA Education
NASA has lesson plans, videos and classroom activities for science subjects at grade levels ranging from Kindergarten to university levels.
http://search.nasa.gov/search/edFilterSearch.jsp?empty=true
JASON Mission Center
Like NASA's Mission Control Center, the JASON Mission Center is the hub for exploration. It contains all the student and teacher content, communications systems, digital experiences and other resources.
http://www.jason.org/public/whatis/start.aspx
Learn Genetics
These resources for learning about genetics by the University of Utah’s Genetic Science Learning Center include interactive visualizations, 3D animations and activities.
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/
ChemCollective
The ChemCollective allows students to design and carry out their own experiments in a virtual laboratory and provides virtual lab problems, real-world scenarios, concept tests, simulations, tutorials and course modules for learning basic chemistry.
http://www.chemcollective.org/
Everyday Mysteries

Everyday Mysteries will help you get the answers to many of life's most interesting questions through scientific inquiry. Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/
NEWTON Ask A Scientist!

We have a number of resources ranging from video discussions with our scientists, virtual tours through google hangouts to live streaming of our public lecture series called Argonne Outloud.

http://www.anl.gov/education/learning-center/classroom-resources
Energy Innovation Portal

The Energy Innovation Portal is a one-stop resource for Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) technologies.

http://techportal.eere.energy.gov/
ABC's of Nuclear Science

Visit here and learn about radioactivity - alpha, beta and gamma decay. Find out the difference between fission and fusion. Learn about the structure of the atomic nucleus.

http://www2.lbl.gov/abc/
Science360 for iPad

Science360 for iPad provides easy access to engaging science and engineering images and video from around the globe and a news feed featuring breaking news from NSF-funded institutions. Content is either produced by NSF or gathered from scientists, colleges and universities, and NSF science and engineering centers.

http://science360.gov/ipad/
Science.gov

Science.gov searches over 50 databases and over 2100 selected websites offering U.S. government science information, including research and development results.

http://www.science.gov/browse/w_129A.htm
National Science Digital Library

The National Science Digital Library provides high quality online educational resources for teaching and learning, with current emphasis on the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

https://nsdl.oercommons.org/
NASA Education Rocketry

NASA Education Rocketry is a website devoted to learning about rockets. There’s a beginner’s guide to rockets, a pictorial history of rockets, an index of rocket topics (including math and science fundamentals), and more. It offers interactive features, including one on “building a rocket.”

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/rocketry/home/index.html

Engineering

Design Squad Nation
Design Squad Nation engages kids in hands-on engineering through activities, animations, video profiles, and episodes. Activities focus on the engineering design process and are ideal for ages 9-12.
http://pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/index.html
Robotics Education Project
NASA's Robotics Education Project is intended to raise children's interest in robotics and promote it as a possible career choice. The Web site highlights many applications of robots, such as space exploration, medicine and mechanical automation.
http://robotics.nasa.gov/
TeachEngineering
A growing collection of 750+ free, teacher-tested, standards-based K-12 lessons and activities that engage students and enhance science and math learning through the use of hands-on engineering.
http://www.teachengineering.org/
The ASEE Engineering K12 Center
Developed by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the site provides resources for grade school students, parents and teachers that promote engineering.
http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/
Great Engineering Achievements
20 of the 20th century's greatest engineering achievements are discussed emphasizing how engineering shaped a century and changed the world. Each engineering achievement topic area includes a historical timeline and a description of the progress.
http://www.greatachievements.org/
Engineer Girl
Designed by the National Academy of Engineering, this Web site celebrates women in engineering and offers information and resources to parents, teachers and mentors.
http://www.engineergirl.org/
Engineering Design for Human Exploration

Engineering Design for Human Exploration: Energy and Power helps students learn a 12-step engineering design process as they solve problems associated with traveling to and living on the moon.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/HEP_Engineering.html
Building Big Labs

Building Big Labs helps kids think about structures they see every day and the impact of technology on society. Online laboratories invite students to test forces, materials, loads, and shapes.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/lab/index.html
Amusement Park Physics

Design your own roller coaster, and along the way they will learn a thing or two about the laws of gravity, pendulums, and kinetic energy. Along with explanatory essays, this resource contains interactive graphics and a glossary of terms.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/
Nanoscience - Nanoscale Informal Science Education

Find activities and lesson plans with nanoscale science, engineering and technology.

http://www.nisenet.org/About_Programs
Nanotechnology Lessons & Games

Ultra-tiny nanoscale engineered materials and technologies show up in products from cosmetics to medicine. To help teach this rapidly expanding area of STEM, TryNano has assembled a webpage with lessons, games, and other free resources.

http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/trynano/
NASCAR’s Acceleration Nation

Acceleration Nation is a new learning program created in partnership with Scholastic to teach elementary and middle school students about math and science behind NASCAR’s Three D’s of Speed: Drag, Downforce, and Drafting.

http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/nascar-acceleration-nation/

STEM News Articles

33 photos that are out of this world
The new era of robotic space exploration is yielding some extraordinary photographs from the far reaches of our solar system. This gallery showcases some of the most extraordinary recent extraterrestrial images, including snapshots of huge solar flares, craters on Mercury in the shape of Mickey Mouse, and self-portraits sent back from the surface of Mars by NASA's Curiosity rover.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/09/around-the-solar-system/100368/