The National Association of Biology Teachers has awarded Chuck McWilliams, co-director of the Master’s in Biology for Science Teachers Program at Washington University in St. Louis and a teacher-leader for the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District, the 2018 Outstanding Biology Teacher Award for Missouri. To read the entire article visit WUSTL’s The Source.
To help fill a pipeline of future scientists and engineers, many teachers in the St. Louis area are “stemitizing” — integrating science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts into all school subjects. One such effort, STEMpact’s Teacher Quality program, trains 150 kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers on how to incorporate the concepts into their curriculum in hopes […]
Activity: The next time you are at the ballpark, notice if you are sitting in the shade at the beginning of the game. As the game goes on, notice which inning the batter is in the shade. Pick a part of the stadium, like the scoreboard, and see what inning or what time it gets […]
Activity: The next time you are at the pool or even the bathtub watch carefully the different waves you can make, depending on what you do with your hands. Try these different techniques to see which ones makes the most interesting wave: Push the water away from your body with your hands. Pull the water […]
Activity: See how many words you can think of that are about space. For example, stars or planets or the names of rocket ships that have explored space. Then look around the grocery store. How many items have space names? What about cars on the road? How many models have space names? Questions to Ask: […]
Activity: The next time you are at the ballpark, test out the wind factor. First, determine how much wind there is and what direction the wind is blowing. Hold up a paper napkin. Is there any wind? Can the napkin end fly up in the air? (A lot of wind!) What direction is the wind […]
Activity: Gather your animals together. Line them up from smallest to largest. Make groups of animals, by kind or number of limbs. Pick one animal and find the eyes, ears, nose and mouth on it. Compare those features to different toy animals. Safety Tip: Watch out for loose parts on toys that could be pulled […]
Activity: Look around. Did you bring anything to the pool that can float? What about an empty soda can, or some aluminum foil? Did you bring any floaty toys? Put each of the items in the water and see how they float. Can you change the material so they would sink? If they can float, […]
Activity: Pour a little milk onto a plate. Pour a small amount of water onto a different plate. Add drops of food coloring around the edges of the plates. In the center of the plate add a few drops of dish detergent. Notice what happens on each plate. Safety Tip: Do not drink the milk […]
The most common form of mountain ranges, like the Rockies, are fold mountains. How are they made? Activity: Lay down a stack of towels, each one folded in half. If possible use towels of various colors. Put a box on either side of the towels. Push the boxes (continental plates) towards each other and observe […]