Welcome to Vivify’s Blog!
STEM Summer Activities!
In honor of all that you do to balance your life and pouring love and learning into the lives of those you teach, head over to Teachers Pay Teachers today and tomorrow only to save up to 28% site wide! Our recommendation would be to take advantage of this sale to stock up on all things STEM! We have created a 3 months full of STEM activities that will continue to inspire and enrich your students' learning all summer long!
Earth Day Oil Spill Challenge
Need a fun and hands-on Earth Day activity? Challenge your students to an oil spill clean-up! Read on for a STEM challenge that teaches environmental consciousness, problem solving, and team work along with extension math problems that use measurement, percentages, and volume calculations. Our students loved this activity, and we think yours will too!
Middle School Students Reach the Stratosphere!
No FBI report or stolen data this time! My Space Club students successfully launched and recovered a weather balloon from 80,000 feet! Read to learn about our adventure and tips to complete your own balloon launch.
STEM Family Night Planning Guide
STEM Family Nights are awesome! They generate excitement for STEM in your school and community by allowing students, teachers, and families to explore STEM together in a fun way! I planned my first STEM Night this past November, and after a big success, we planned three more! We worked with each middle school campus to create a family night that best fit the school culture, and we were excited to have over 400 participants engaged in activities each night. We got the whole school involved from administrators, teachers, coaches, student organizations, and parents to put on a meaningful night of STEM exploration. Want to plan your own night? Read on to learn how!
The Importance of Failure
When you hear the word “FAILURE”, what comes to mind? What feelings surface? Failure is something adults face often; for example, in our jobs when we fail to meet a deadline, in our relationships when we fail to act appropriately to situations, and in our homes when we fail to get chores accomplished or items fixed, to name a few. How a person responds to failure, and more importantly, how one goes on to succeed may be based on how he or she is conditioned at a young age.
Teaching Space Inspires Youth
Every child has looked up at the twinkling stars on a clear night and wondered about the vastness above. The night sky captures a child's imagination and leads to profound thoughts and questions about our place in the world. The need to explore and discover is a common thread among humans, and the greatest unknowns lay in the night sky above us. Giving students a window into the beauty of space and teaching the journey of humankind's exploration of other worlds is a powerful tool to inspire and engage an interest in science and engineering.
Valentine's Day STEM: Warm-ups & Activities
STEM is not about finding THE answer, as there is almost always more than one way to solve a problem. Encourage creativity while exercising those young minds! Here are some warm-up prompt ideas to get those lovely lobes thinking and in the mood for some Valentine’s Day STEM...
...In this season of love, you will also fancy the following Valentine’s Day STEM activities. These two resources will get kids excited about using their STEM skills to solve a sweet (candy!) problem and help them exercise off all of that sugar with some fun real-world math. ...
STEM in Sports
The Super Bowl is almost here! While I am planning to consume large amounts of buffalo wings and chips and dip, I am reminded that there is more that goes into this monumental day in America than just good entertainment. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), is present in every aspect of this beloved game. This truth provides a wonderful opportunity to get kids involved in an early love of STEM.
Start Your Year Sitewide Sale - Wednesday and Thursday Only!
In honor of starting back to school in the new year, TeachersPayTeachers is launching a fabulous two-day sale with savings of up to 28%. Now is the time to get the best deals on all the lessons and activities still on your wish list! Never heard of TeachersPayTeachers? I highly recommend this site for amazing classroom resources for all grades made by real classroom teachers and educators. Signing up is free and the resources are endless!
STEM Conferences for Educators
Are you looking for professional development opportunities specific to STEM education? Below is a list of conferences I have attended plus ones that come recommended from colleagues. This list includes both national conferences that change location each year and ones specific to the Texas area.