Science, and STEAM (STEM with the Arts), learning are two of our most hands-on learning opportunities in schools. Science teachers and STEAM teachers across the world are surely feeling the intense loss of their hands-on learning environments, incredible laboratory spaces, and access to supplies that they may have once thought of as simple and yet now are coveted. Just because we are facing a distance learning educational crisis, we do not need to take the hands-on elements out of our science and STEAM learning, we simply need to reframe our approach.
Discovery Education offers one of the most robust tools available for teachers in all content areas, but especially our science and STEAM specialists. With an expansive platform that provides access to over 180,000 “assignable, editable” activities, videos, ready-to-use lessons and other resources” for K-12 science (among other content areas), this tool is an incredible resource to support Science and STEAM education across all content areas. With all of the content aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), it is easier than ever before for teachers to identify meaningful and high quality resources to weave into their instruction. This Discovery Education resource does an outstanding job of providing equitable access to learners by offering the text adjusted to a variety of reading levels, supports for ELL students through translated content and built in dictionaries, as well as special education modifications and accommodations including highlighting text, audio versions, and more. Included in the Discovery Education Science Techbook are numerous virtual labs, exploratory learning adventures, sessions with experts from the field, and, of course, numerous STEAM challenges. As a company that invests millions of dollars a year into improving and enhancing the quality of their products, their commitment shows in this top notch resource for educators.
The Ready Learner One team is proud to offer you the following focused compilation of resources, in addition to Discovery Education, to assist you with identifying the best Science & STEAM Learning tools that can be used to support your learners, not only during distance learning but also once we are able to return to the classrooms.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post in the Ready Virtual Learner One Series focusing on Language & Culture- Exploring the World From Home. Wishing you good health!
| Science & STEM Resources: Mystery Science – Digital video mini-lessons for science subjects K-5. Discovery Education– This robust tool offers a wide variety of video, text, image, and interactive content that covers the NGSS across grade levels K-12. Normally at a cost, Science Techbook can be accessed via a free trial to take full advantage of the resource. Amazon Future Engineer is providing access to computer science courses for learners in grades 6-12. CoderZ- Offering a virtual robotics program, CoderZ provides a sequenced course that shows learners how to code; early learners use block-based coding; older learners use text-based coding. Georgia Tech’s EarSketch-, This free program helps students use music to learn to code. Grammy-award winning artists Ciara and Common have both provided studio-quality music “stems” that students can remix from home using code. Boolean Girl– Live virtual events to teach students “to code, build, invent and animate.” Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3 to 4 p.m. EST, Boolean Girl introduces a new engineering/coding project around STEM. League of Young Inventors– This STEAM program offers a series of online projects and lessons to help students make, build and learn science at home. Including a guiding video, science concepts, and a list of household and basic crafting items for families to find and use to complete STEAM challenges. |
About the author: Christine Lion-Bailey is the Chief Strategy Officer for Ready Learner One LLC and a Director of Technology & Innovation in New Jersey. She is also is the coauthor of Reality Bytes: Innovative Learning Using Augmented and Virtual Reality. Christine is an advocate for innovative thought and practices in learning, both through instruction and leadership, across K-12, higher ed, and corporate spaces. Follow Christine on Twitter at @clionbailey.
