STEM Lesson


Lesson - Educational Innovations Blog

Looking for a STEM lesson?  With all the free lessons available online, it’s not easy to determine which ones are worth your time.  Unless you spend hours in front of your computer, how can you tell if the lesson is designed by a credible, experienced educator?  Never fear!  We’ve found some of the best free STEM lesson sources.

Please let us know in the comments section below if you find other worthwhile STEM lessons online.  Enjoy!

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The Magic of Spring, Seeds, and Science!


Priscilla Robinson, Educational Innovationsby Priscilla Robinson

Spring in the Pacific Northwest comes with a fanfare of germinating seeds, blossoming flowers, and budding trees. As a science educator, I like to jump on Mother Nature’s bandwagon to bring this burst of plant life into my classroom with a variety of biology experiments and activities. What your students see every day can bloom into teachable moments. These learning ideas will help you make the most out of the magic and science of spring.

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The Power of Electricity, Magnetism… and Infomercials!


Educational Innovations BlogBy Cathy Byrne

Virtually all fourth grade students explore electricity and magnetism.  As part of this unit, students are asked to do two things:

1 –   Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents (4-PS3-2)

2 –   Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another (4-PS3-4). 

This year, the teachers at my school put a new twist on our electricity and magnetism unit… and the results were amazing!

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A Light at the Smithsonian: Notes from a Spectroscopist


Alex Scheelineby Alex Scheeline

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, on the national mall in Washington, D.C., has an especially fascinating exhibit on Thomas Edison.  The exhibit highlights the development of electricity and lighting, and, more generally, invention.  In late 2017, I visited an area that featured a set of lamps—including a low-pressure sodium vapor lamp, a mercury lamp, an incandescent lamp, and a compact fluorescent lamp.

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Science Fairs in the News


latino-professor-newspaperYou might be surprised how much news there is about the ubiquitous science fair!  We have collected a few worthy articles for you.  Some are funny, others are provocative—and they’re all worth a look.

If you come across an article of interest, please share it with us in the Comments section below.

Happy reading!

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