Free Resources for Teachers

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In 2011, USInnovations.org published a STEM Report Card for each state and the District of Columbia.  Find out how STEM is connected to your state’s future economic and employment prospects.  How does your state rank?

Click here to view the Report Cards.

Engineering is easier that you think!  Here’s a free article

for you to pass on to teachers from a leader in elementary engineering curriculum with tips on how to make the leap from teaching science to teaching engineering.

Click here to download the free article.

A STEM white paper from learning.com explains how integrated STEM projects help students learn by constructing their own knowledge of the world around them.  You can request this free white paper as well as a 2012 National STEM Report from their Helpful Resources section.

Click here for the STEM section of the learning.com site. (Look for the links on the right hand side of their STEM page.)

A wooden elephant, of course!

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Meet Lucy the Elephant.  This fine example of zoomorphic architecture sits just a few miles south of Atlantic City in Margate.  This attraction was originally commissioned when land speculator James Lafferty needed a reason for people to visit what was then an undeveloped area known as South Atlantic City.

The Lucy website has more information about Lucy as well as photos and videos.  Check out their videos “Exploratory Surgery” and “Mending a Tail” to learn about the difficulties of preserving and maintaining a 130 year old wooden, tin elephant.

Casinos, the boardwalk, salt water taffy, Donald Trump, physicists.

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Physicists!???

What comes to mind when you think of Atlantic City?

It turns out physicists and gambling have a lot to talk about.   Click here to read about physics and math in this article from Discover Magazine.

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Thursday, May 17 10:30–11:30 AM

STE + M: Making the Equation Work in Your Elementary Classroom

Atlantic City Convention Center, 415

Join Sam and Molly Felicia as they share practical tips for building strong connections to the math your students need from an inquiry science, technology, and engineering curriculum. From content knowledge to process skills, it’s easier than you think to add up to STEM in your classroom.

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And if you can’t make it, check in on upcoming Virtual STEM Forum right here on our website!

Come along with us virtually starting May 16.  We’ll be posting several times a day to offer science ideas, links to the region, teaching tips, and more. We like to think of our virtual conferences as all the delights of a conference without the sore feet.  So check back starting Wednesday morning…

Using Notebooks Improves Student Literacy

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Using science notebooks to help students write about their inquiry-based science experiences helps develop both comprehension and literacy as students practice communicating their observations.

Visit the NSTA website to download an article from Science and Children about how teachers can encourage and assess student writing in science.  The article is free for NSTA members.

Click here to find out how to make Science Talks work for your teachers and students.

Click here for some research on science notebooks and literacy.

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Goodbye from Science Companion and Spheniscus magellanicus

We have one more freebie to share with you. Click here for our  Science Companion Rocks Field Trip.

Click here for information about Spheniscus magellanicus.

Here’s an easy way to check in on all of the Virtual NSTA activities here on our site.  Just click on the links below.

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• Off to the Races: A pre-NSTA Virtual Field Trip

• Find Orion. Get Stuff.

• Virtual Session – Science and Literacy

• Virtual Session – Politics and Education: The Historical Perspective

• Let’s Head Out for a Field Trip!

• Where’s Orion?

• Indiana Rocks!

• MoonKAM

• Free Stuff.

• Science and Art: A Field Trip

• I-STEM

We’re so proud that Science Companion is one of I-STEM’s pilot curricula and enjoy working with teachers in Indiana.  If you’re not familiar with the I-STEM Resource Network, click here to visit their website and read what they are doing to make Indiana a leader in STEM education.

We had a great time in Indiana and got to catch up with Science Companion friends.

Here's Orion with Brandon Sorge, from Purdue University and iSTEM.

Rita Ferrandino with Kristen Camp of Champaign Unit 4 School District.

Indianapolis Museum of Art

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Let’s head out for another field trip. This one is to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Their Body in Flight exhibition combines gymnastics and modern dance while utilizing an unusual balance beam.  Video and still images from this exhibition are online.

The IMA has many resources available on their website for educators, including videos, music, images, and online activities.  You can look at Sebastiano Mainardi’s altarpiece online, learn about the artist and how it was made, and read about conservation efforts to stabilize, clean, and repair the panel.  Click her for Sebastiano Mainardi: The Science of Art.

Here’s another opportunity to get free stuff.

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What is it?

• Moving Systems Design Project Teacher Print Package
• Matter Teacher Lesson Manual
• Sound Teacher Lesson Manual

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How can you get it?

For anyone attending NSTSA, locate our Online Content Developer, Orion Smith, and ask him the age of his dog, Romper.

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Answer this question:  What is the name of the crater shown in the picture below.

Hint: Follow the link in our previous post that takes you to the photos of the moon and the mission’s equipment.

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What do you need to do?

Submit your answers to team@sciencecompanion.com by Tuesday, April 3. Let us know who you are, what you do, and how to reach you.

And now for a look at a different kind of rock.

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Two NASA probes equipped with a special lunar cameras called a MoonKAM are now able to send pictures to students by request.  The probes, called Ebb and Flow, are on a mission to study the moon’s formation and how Earth and other rocky planets formed.  The students are able to take pictures using the MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School students.)

Click here for an article describing the mission.

Click here to see more of the student-request photos of our Moon and photos of the equipment being used in this mission.