STEM/STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and the Arts

Here you'll find articles and resources for STEM+Arts education, also known as STEAM. Topics include science, technology, engineering, math and arts education and range from research reports to feature articles to profiles of makerspaces to news about new STEAM and STEAM initiatives in schools.


Registration Opens for the Third Year of the KidWind Simulation Challenge

The KidWind Project will partner with Flinn Scientific for the third year in a row to offer K–12 students a chance to compete in the 2023 Simulation Challenge. Contestants will use Flinn Scientific’s WhiteBox Learning STEM to virtually construct and test wind turbines and wind farms. Registration and the competition are open now through March 1, with challenge completion due April 1.

Wishes and Worries for 2023: What Ed Tech Leaders Are Thinking About

During the final weeks of 2022, THE Journal asked scores of ed tech leaders about their wishes and worries for 2023. Cybersecurity and teacher resources were the most common topics addressed in the responses — many of which include specific ideas for new policies and practices for K–12 education in the United States.

A High School Class on the History of Poison and Murder As a Mini-Case Study for Competency-Based Education

Todd Ryckman of Cypher Learning joins THEJournal.com editor Kristal Kuykendall for a discussion about the competency-based education movement, what it looks like in school districts that have been implementing CBE over the past five years, and how Cypher Learning’s NEO LMS empowers educators and students, regardless of whether their school uses the traditional or “modern” instructional model or more of a CBE approach.

Free Music Curriculum and 500 VR Headsets Traveling to Under-Resourced K–12 Schools

With a $250,000 grant from the Tides Foundation Unity Charitable Fund, Rotu Entertainment has created the Harmony Program in a year-long initiative to travel to under-resourced K–12 schools across the United States to help implement music education.

Patent and Trademark Office Launches Free Invention Platform for K–12 Teachers and Students

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has contracted with Second Avenue Learning to launch EquIP HQ, a free K–12 platform for teachers and students to learn how to invent solutions to real-world problems using STEM and STEAM skills. The grade-level, standards-based program takes learners through design, prototypes, tests, improvements, and the intellectual property rights patent process.

How A Midwestern State Became a National Leader in K-12 Robotics Teams in 4 Years

One state leads the nation on the number of students participating in robotics competitions, and it’s probably not the state you’d guess. Indiana’s robotics initiative reaches about 20,000 students each year, with higher levels of diversity than STEM fields usually see — and all that on an annual budget of under $200K.

Drones as Competitive Flying Robots? How the REC Foundation is Expanding to Prepare Students for the Future Workforce

THEJournal.com editor and podcast host Kristal Kuykendall visits with REC Foundation CEO Dan Mantz, who explains the foundation’s recent adjustments to its mission and vision, the addition of curriculum and competitions for drones and automation, and all the ways that the REC Foundation programs are helping prepare the workforce of tomorrow.

Takeda and Discovery Education Partner to Provide Health Equity Education to Grades 6 to 8

Japanese global biopharmaceutical company Takeda and ed tech company Discovery Education have partnered to offer health equity and STEM education topics to students, educators, and families in grades 6 through 8 free of charge through the Better Health in Action: From Classroom to Community initiative, to interest students in health equity careers.

Inventionland Course and Contest Leads to Product License for Middle School Students

Two eighth-grade students in the Grove City (PA) Middle School have garnered a product license for their invention following completion of Inventionland’s K–12 Innovation Curriculum course and winning both their middle school and regional contests. The course, which Inventionland describes as a “cross-discipline STEAM toolbox,” uses the same proprietary nine-step invention process the company follows in its own commercial applications.

Virtual Lab Environment Cyber.org Range Launched to Make K–12 Cybersecurity Skills Training Available Nationally

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Cyber Innovation Center (CIC) in Louisiana, along with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, have announced the expansion of Cyber.org’s new virtual lab environment, Cyber.org Range, available to teach cybersecurity skills to all K–12 students nationwide free of cost through a Cybersecurity Education and Training Assistance Program (CETAP) grant.

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