Peer Review

STEM-Works - Science, Technology, Math & Engineering Resources for Kids

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Mar 15, 2020 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Stem-Works is a site that encourages the teaching and learning of STEM related subjects. It provides a list of sites across the U.S. where such learning can occur as well as articles, activities, games, and a list of cool jobs that use STEM daily such as robotics, wind energy, the animal kingdom and under the sea all presented in an engaging manner.

Type of Material:

Collection

Recommended Uses:

The resources at this website could be used in many ways starting from simply finding materials to use in class or having students find articles, to in class group or individual activities such as those shown in the list below but many more. The website could also be used for students who finish classwork early or for extra credit. A clever teacher could find many uses for this collection.

Build a Galaxy-This activity helps students grasp the concepts of 3D modeling and astronomy.
Space Math-The activity links math, NASA, and astronomy. Students will learn all about the math...
NASA Coding-This activity links NASA, coding, and astronomy. Students learn the basics of coding…
Wingspan- Have your students check out this project and find out how math and anthropology come together to solve crimes.
Take a Tour of a Forensic Biology Lab-If you want to learn all about forensics and how to solve mysteries and crimes using...
Handwriting Analysis -For forensic scientists, any characteristic of people can give them clues, …
Change Blindness Demonstration -Do your students think they can spot differences in photos? Well, let them try this…
Does the Moon Rotate? -Students will create 3D models of the earth and the moon to see how they move …

STEM-works can be used in informal learning organizations that are working to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills of children.

Technical Requirements:

None

Identify Major Learning Goals:

The website collection's main goal is to provide a resource for teachers, mentors, parents, STEM professionals, volunteers, and everyone passionate about getting children eager to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math.

The official goals are listed on the About Us page:

Develop a virtual community in support of our mission. That community consists of people like you. We hope that you will join our community, tell others about us, and contribute what you know to this effort.
Create a virtual environment where volunteers will find the tools they need to inspire, teach and have fun with young people. By aggregating information that is currently found in many places, in addition to providing new content, we believe we can provide high quality projects, activities and events for volunteers working with middle school children.
Support STEM professionals working in the Department of Defense by focusing on their geographic regions like Washington, DC area, Dallas/Fort Worth area, the Seattle, Washington area, and Albuquerque, New Mexico area.

STEM-Works is focused on getting children eager to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math.

Target Student Population:

Grade School, Middle School, High School, College General Ed, Professional

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

None

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This collection presents educationally significant STEM concepts that include a wide variety of topics studied in the STEM fields. The content is presented in such a way that learning is fun and easy through activities, games and engaging articles.
Concerns:: The materials all seem to be of high quality.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Teachers will find it very easy to adapt these learning materials to their classroom because activities include the lesson title, grade level, and estimated time for the lesson, followed by the list of lesson objectives and materials needed and then complete procedures for the lesson provided step-by-step. Finally a method for assessment/evaluation is suggested. So no need to write learning assignments, they are ready for you to adapt to your needs!

Virtual STEM learning communities will find this material most helpful, but it can also be used in classrooms to promote STEM learning.

Concerns:

This collection will be very efficient as a teaching tool.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

This resource is very easy to navigate. All buttons, labels and menus in general are consistent throughout the site making exploration fun. The colors and and layout are very visually appealing so that students would probably be very engaged in the content.

Teachers will find it easy to search for relevant STEM topics and they will love the detailed lesson plans provided.