Making Scientifically-Accurate Snowflakes


Priscilla Robinson, Educational InnovationsBy Priscilla Robinson

Snowflakes!  They arrive in flurries, storms and blizzards, not to mention “Winter Bomb Cyclones!”  I’ve always thought the science behind snowflakes is amazing.

A snowflake begins when a tiny dust or pollen particle comes into contact with water vapor high up in Earth’s atmosphere.  The water vapor coats the tiny particle and then freezes into a tiny crystal of ice.  This tiny crystal will be the “seed” from which a snowflake will grow.  The process is called crystallization.

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Grant Funded Neuroscience!


By: Will Wharton, Backyard Brains

Looking to impress your grant providers with DIY neuroscience? With Backyard Brains kits, it’s easy!

Recently, biology teachers at Okemos High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) requested and received grant funding to introduce several Human-Human-Interfaces into their classrooms. The results left their students stunned…

 

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STEM Discussion Starters


Discussion Starters - Educational Innovations NewsletterLooking for a free STEM resource to share with your students?  Here’s our selection.  Some websites offer ready-to-go lessons… others share exciting interviews with young people involved in STEM fields.  All of them are worth a visit!

If you find a worthy site that we haven’t mentioned here, please let us know in the comments section below.

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STEM in the News


You already know that STEM learning is everywhere these days.  The term “STEM” had its origins in the 1990s at the National Science Foundation.  Since then, it has become a buzzword for all sorts of events, policies, or programs involving one (or several) of the acronym’s disciplines—namely, Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math.

STEM has been in the news ever since.  Below we’ve collected an assortment of articles looking at some of the challenges, successes, plans, and controversies related to this important skill set.

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STEM TV


EI TV - Educational Innovations Blog

Do we really need to teach STEM skills to our students?  Absolutely!  Science, technology, engineering and math are all around us.  It’s crucial to help our students recognize how these areas impact their daily lives.  Aside from the benefit of being science-literate, they’ll also develop a broader idea of the world around them.

Videos do an amazing job of explaining complex ideas.  We hope you’ll enjoy and share these videos.  And if you find other worthy STEM videos, please let us know in the comments section below!

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