STEM+ [Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics] +PLUS+

Research from the UW's Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) found when 6-year-old girls participated in a computer-programming activity, they expressed a bigger interest in technology and more positive attitudes about their own skills and abilities than girls who didn't try it.

What are the risks of placing hazardous equipment (e.g., 3D printer, laser cutter, CNC router, etc.) in a non-T&E lab under the supervision of teachers not certified to teach T&E education?

Join us for STEM in 30, an interactive classroom program consisting of 30-minute live webcasts that engage middle school students in STEM topics ranging from WWI airplanes to rovers on Mars. Chat with experts, submit your questions to be answered live, take a poll, discover related content, and participate in follow-up activities.

"We pioneered industries," Tysonsaid. "Science is a fundamental part of the country that we are."

But in the 21st century, a disturbing trend took hold: "People have lost the ability to judge what is true and what is not," he said.

In a voice full of passion, Tyson said, "This is science," as images flash across the screen showing the world's great scientists from Albert Einstein to Jane Goodall, and scientific accomplishments, from ultrasound images of a fetus and robotic surgery to animations of solar flares and pictures of a swirling hurricane.

"It's not something to say 'I choose not to believe E = mc^2,' you don't have that option."

Girlhood Remixed and Ink Spilling create formative summer camp experiences for youth nearing adolescence, connecting young women with STEM skills and opportunities, and giving the STEM-inclined an opportunity to embrace writing.

Twin sisters Lina and Maya, both 11-years-old, have interests all over the map: soccer, volleyball, reading, and playing video games. And in the winter, they fundraise to buy hats, scarves, and shoes for people who are homeless in their town of Las Cruces, New Mexico.

But when it came to computer class, they weren’t sure they “fit in.”

Get ready to have your mind blown. According to an experiment led by two physicists in Australia, reality doesn’t exist. Turn on, tune in, and drop out man, because the world as you know it is all kinds of weird, at least on a quantum level.

Andrew Truscott and Roman Khakimov of The Australian National University used atoms to put a John Wheeler delayed-choice thought experiment to practical use. The Wheeler thought experiments ask, in theory, at what point does an object decide to act like one thing or another.

Truscott and Khakimov’s team used what is assumed to be extremely expensive and complex scientific equipment to trap a single helium atom and then drop it through a pair of laser beams that formed a scattered grating pattern. 

Engineering is the most male-dominated field in STEM. It may perhaps be the most male-dominated profession in the U.S., with women making up only 13% of the engineering workforce.

For decades, to attract more women to the field, engineering educators have focused on curriculum reform (e.g., by promoting girls’ interest in math and science). While these efforts have brought in more women to study engineering, the problem is that many quit during and after school. Focusing solely on education doesn’t address the fact that women tend to leave the profession at a higher rate than men. Women make up 20% of engineering graduates, but it’s been estimated that nearly 40% of women who earn engineering degrees either quit or never enter the profession. Clearly, some elementary and high school reforms are working, but those at the college level are not.

The STEM Center for Teaching and Learning™ was established in 1998 to strengthen professional development and advance technological literacy. Center initiatives are directed toward four goals: development of standards-based curricula; teacher enhancement; research concerning teaching and learning; and curriculum implementation and diffusion.

Robots aren't as evolved as we might think. Kate Darling is a research specialist at the MIT Media Lab.

Preschool math performance predicts future academic achievement more consistently than reading or attention skills, according to new research from New America and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop.

"STEM Starts Early" reports that preschool math knowledge predicts math achievement into high school, and a randomized study of McGraw-Hill’s Building Blocks curriculum, which embeds mathematical learning into preschool activities, led to higher scores in literacy and language, such as recognizing letters, expressing knowledge and understanding spoken words.

With the younger generation learning to code before they learn to read, today's high school students need to quickly catch up.

It seems many scientists would take matters into their own hands by learning how to better communicate their subject to the masses. I’ve taught science communication at Columbia University and New York University, and I’ve run an international network of workshops for scientists and writers for nearly a decade. I’ve always had a handful of intrepid graduate students, but now, fueled by the Trump administration’s Etch A Sketch relationship to facts, record numbers of scientists are setting aside the pipette for the pen. Across the country, science communication and advocacy groups report upticks in interest. Many scientists hope that by doing a better job of explaining science, they can move the needle toward scientific consensus on politically charged issues. As recent studies from Michigan State University found, scientists’ top reason for engaging the public is to inform and defend science from misinformation.

It’s an admirable goal, but almost certainly destined to fail. This is because the way most scientists think about science communication—that just explaining the real science better will help—is plain wrong. In fact, it’s so wrong that it may have the opposite effect of what they’re trying to achieve.

Minecraft’s status as a hit game is well-known — but its massive success has made it more than just a game. As the above video shows, it’s also an art and business for creators who’ve embraced Minecraft’s unique, blocky world.

That’s exactly what James Delaney and Blockworks, a design company he co-founded, have done. The group made distinctive maps for Minecraft that have educated players and risen to the level of art — all while occasionally making a nice profit too. Their works are collected in the coffee table book Beautiful Minecraft, which features works ranging from surreal landscapes to surprisingly affecting “human” structures, all crafted using Minecraft’s blocks.

You don't need to be a professional astronomer to find new worlds orbiting distant stars. Darwin mechanic and amateur astronomer Andrew Grey this week helped to discover a new exoplanet system with at least four orbiting planets.

But Andrew did have professional help and support. The discovery was a highlight moment of this week's three-evening special ABC Stargazing Live, featuring British physicist Brian Cox, presenter Julia Zemiro and others.

Viewers were encouraged to join in the search for exoplanets – planets orbiting distant stars – using the Exoplanet Explorers website. After a quick tutorial they were then asked to trawl through data on thousands of stars recently observed with NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

The scene is right out of a survival horror movie. A yellow school bus unloads a group of eager young campers, ready to meet their counselors and settle in for some summer camp fun. Instead, they are greeted by a horde of groaning zombies advancing at them from an open field. The staff frantically hand out three foam Nerf darts to each incredulous camper and suggest they start running. The rest of the day is spent hiding and defending in a desperate bid to evade the droves of undead.

Hours later, the bus is back to gather the exhilarated survivors. But it’s not over yet. Before they board, a jeep pulls up and a suited man jumps out and opens a briefcase filled with more foam darts. He distributes them liberally, along with plain business cards printed with the name “INGSOC.” As abruptly as he arrived, he speeds off in a cloud of dust, leaving a pack of mystified campers in his wake.

This is one of the many schemes cooked up by Meghan Gardner and her team at Guard Up to engage students in learning.