Vivify STEM Blog
Dot Day STEM
International Dot Day is celebrated yearly on September 15th to encourage creativity, courage, and collaboration inspired by Peter H. Reynolds’ book, The Dot! Have you read it? Take the beloved story to the next level by infusing STEM into your Dot Day festivities.
Bring Space Club to Your School!
From space suit design to growing plants in space, Space Club is an interactive virtual program with weekly engineering design challenges, sessions with NASA engineers, and students from across the country! Students will upload videos of completed designs for the chance to win epic prizes like telescopes and robots! Learn how to bring it to your middle school this fall!
STEM Activities for Distance Learning
While distance learning is by no means an ideal situation for hands-on STEM learning, we have put together activities that promote STEM skills. Read on for our strategies to teach STEM during live virtual sessions, through student-driven distance learning, and in the classroom.
7 Ideas for Teaching Social Studies with STEM
STEM by definition is a collaborative way of bringing subjects together to introduce students to higher-order thinking. So it shouldn’t be isolated to the science or specials classes. Bring STEM into your social studies lessons with the ideas and tips below.
50 Distance Learning Icebreakers & Games
Are you struggling to engage students during distance learning? Here is a list of 50 icebreakers and games to keep students engaged and motivated during remote learning! Perfect for back to school, these activities also develop important 21st-century skills like communication, creativity, and collaboration. The following list is divided into three parts: relationship-building icebreakers, fun games, and top tools for distance learning.
5 Favorite STEM Activities for Elementary Kids
Every year I look for more ways to captivate my students’ minds and entice them to dive deeper into their learning content. I have found the trick to engaging kids in any lesson is to incorporate STEM activities. I know at this point, I shouldn’t be surprised by the power that STEM seems to have in meeting my students’ natural inquisition with hands-on accomplishment. Yet, it never ceases to surprise me just how incorporating STEM challenges into my curriculum makes a world of a difference in the depth of learning for my class.
12 Ways to Boost Social-Emotional Learning with STEM
Equipping students with the skills to succeed inside and outside the classroom has always been our goal as educators. As we go back to school in the fall or continue with distance learning, it has become increasingly necessary to address social-emotional learning (SEL). Read on for strategies on how to utilize STEM to invest in SEL and nurture a positive school culture.
How to use Digital & Printed STEM Journals
Elevate any STEM challenge by using a journal to capture student thinking during the engineering design process! Read below for how to use a digital or printed STEM journal including strategies for distance learning.
Superhero Arm: STEM At Home Activity
To support students during school closings, Vivify is launching a STEM Space At Home weekly video series! Tune in every Thursday for a new STEM activity, led by an engineer, and using materials you can find at home. This week’s challenge: Superhero Robotic Arm!
Top Take-Home STEM Resources for School Closings
As schools close in response to the coronavirus, classrooms are moving to online learning, and parents are scrambling to keep their children engaged in learning while stuck at home. To help both educators and parents, we have compiled a list of our top STEM resources including both online and offline take-home activities. We also provide resources for transitioning to online learning as well as teaching about the coronavirus.
7 Activities Featuring Women in STEM History
Kids won’t be what they don’t see, so provide all of your students with STEM role models that represent them. March is Women’s History month so we are highlighting some inspirational women in STEM history with ways you can involve your kids in their legacies.
Top 10 Ways To Encourage Girls In STEM
Girls belong in STEM too! Did you know that there is a massive disparity in the number of women in STEM careers compared to men? And that especially applies to leadership positions. Fortunately, there is an effort to educate people that this imbalance exists and to change the way we talk about STEM to our young women. Read on for our top 10 ways to encourage girls in STEM.