EDWARDSVILLE – Parents, educators, care providers and others seeking to engage youth of all ages in active STEM learning throughout the summer are invited to use the creative resources available through the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville STEM Center’s STEM @ Home series.
From building paper rockets, enjoying edible lunar calendars and creating a scale model of the solar system’s orbits in a hallway to using Legos to learn about code design and experiencing how chemical changes during oxidation, the STEM @ Home series features weekly learning activities broken down by grade level.
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STEM Center faculty and staff, many of whom are certified teachers and parents working from home while also caring for their children, designed the activities to be easily followed by parents and engaging for kids.
“It’s impossible to cover every science topic, but we’re trying to cover a lot of different subjects to show how many science and math ideas are out there,” said STEM Center Instructor and Outreach Specialist Colin Wilson. “Our goal is to challenge kids who think of science as just facts and memorizing by showing them how fun and creative it is.”
The STEM @ Home series launched at the end of March with Illinois’ Stay-at-Home order going into effect. The series now includes 10 engaging learning modules available at siuestemcenter.org. The activities use common household items, making them more accessible to parents. The series includes:
Learning about Weather
Spring has Sprung
Learning about Eggs
Earth Day 2020
Learning about Lego Coding
Science of Space
Learning about Genetics
Learning about Chemistry
Learning about Insects
Learning STEAM
“Like a lot of groups, we wanted to stay in touch with our community while everyone was staying at home,” Wilson explained. “The response has made it clear, though, that a lot of families in our region are finding it helpful to have engaging activities to support learning at home.”
The STEM @ Home series includes links to additional resources the STEM Center offers, and “staff picks,” which include a list of staff approved resources from outside sources.
For more information, visit SIUESTEMCenter.org/stem-at- home and follow the STEM Center on Twitter at @SIUESTEM.
The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Center for STEM Research, Education and Outreach comprises an independent group of researchers and educators, innovating ways to engage students and the public in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Within the SIUE Graduate School, the Center brings together research faculty, graduate students and practitioners to conduct education research. The Center contributes educational expertise to SIUE undergraduate classes and provides professional development for K-12 teachers. The Center boasts a significant library of equipment and resources, which are available for loan at no cost to campus and regional instructors. For more information, visit https://www.siue.edu/stem/ or contact STEM Center Director Sharon Locke at (618) 650-3065 or stemcenter@siue.edu.
