Tag - STEM

Dr. Science Mom Lights Up the Lab with After School Learning

Karen Engates, otherwise known as Dr. Science Mom, runs a science camp after school program in Texas. She is a mother with a Ph.D.

She mainly works with grades kindergarten to third, exploring science. In Texas, grades 4 and 5 have regular science time during the week to prepare for state tests. The younger grades do not have a required weekly science time.

Karen does her best to get the kids excited about science, “I try to do my part to get them motivated, learn a few skills using lab equipment, and show them that having fun in science is possible.”

One of her recent science camps was the messiest lab ever with Skewer Through the Balloon, Alka-Seltzer Rockets, Wind Bags, Exploding Corn and a Genie in a Bottle.

Her second graders really enjoyed the Taco Sauce Penny Cleaner experiment and wondered “if taco sauce cleans pennies, just think what it could do for your teeth!”

Maybe they’re on to a new product – Taco Sauce Toothpaste – it’s not so minty.

She also
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The Best Teachers Make Learning Memorable

By Blog Editor Susan Wells

As the summer begins to wind down, parents begin to trek to the stores with supply lists in hand and the summer learning break turns to talk about our education system.

What do teachers do over their summer break? Some take to the classroom to do a little learning themselves. Some of the best of the best travel to Denver for Science in the Rockies, a 3-day hands-on science class taught to teachers by our very own Steve Spangler.

Over 100 teachers from across the country (and a few from across the globe) came to learn how to squeeze a little science, a little laughter and a little engagement into their classrooms this next school year.

As testing pressures increase, budgets shrink and class sizes grow, how do teachers motivate and cultivate learning and thinking inside and out of their classroom?

Preschool is all about hands-on learning – tactiles, imaginative play, color mixing and science centers. But what happens when they trek off to elementary school?

At our elementary school, science and social studies rotate. Two weeks for science, while social studies take a break, then
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President Obama… Please Let Me Help You Make Science Cool

President Barack Obama held a town hall meeting at Facebook headquarters on Wednesday… and his comment about making science cool caught my attention.

“I’m frustrated by stories about how we can’t find enough engineers and computer programmers. That means our education system is not working. That’s why we are emphasizing math and science,” Obama said, noting efforts to “make science cool” for minorities and women.

Here’s my open letter to President Obama…

Mr. President, the comment you made at yesterday’s town hall meeting about “making science cool” kept me awake last night because I realized that I actually have something to offer you in the way of a solution to achieve your goal. I was reminded of Don Herbert (the original Mr. Wizard) who made science come alive for millions of kids during the 1950s and 60s. That was exactly what our country needed during the time that followed Sputnik – inspirational people like Don Herbert who made science fun for kids.

Today, we’re faced with a different set of problems that require creative solutions targeted not at the
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