What is STEM Education?
STEM is an acronym for the fields of study in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. There has been a big focus on this term since President Obama highlighted it in recent presentations on education.
But, in RRISD, STEM Education has been a focus for a while--most notably, through the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. CTE encompasses many different fields of study, but offers an opportunity to many students interested in engineering through a program called Project Lead the Way (PTLW). At the Middle School level, PTLW is taught in a class called Gateway to Technology (GTT). Another STEM-focused option at the middle school level is Career Portals which helps students decide on an academy focus for high school. Mr. Borinstein is the teacher of record for these classes at CeVMS.
Recently, I caught Mr. Borinstein's class using their STEM skills in some pretty amazing ways. Check out the cars that they've made (I didn't get any pictures of the planes...):
Photo edited with http://fotoflexer.com/
In order to create these models, students learn the basics of engineering through specialized software and programs. They learn about design and functionality. Then, they put those theories to use in a practical manner.
What can you do?
Want to conjure some excitement for STEM? Check out this video created by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce:
Check out some of the other videos put together by this group. There may be one that you can show that will pique the interest of students who always seem to ask the question: "Why do I need to know this?..."