Parent Magazine St. Johns September 2018 | Page 17

STEM On
SCIENCE-
MINDED
KIDS
by Jan Pierce, M.Ed.
Your kids love their screen time. Why not direct
them to programs, games and sites that will
teach them important educational skills along
with having a great time? Here are some
of the best games and websites for
interacting with science, technology
and mathematics skills.
HIGH SCHOOL
Xploration Outer Space: This two hour
program is produced by Emily Calandrelli, a former
NASA employee. It is shown on FOX affiliate
stations. Each of the four half -hour blocks focuses on
STEM topics related to space exploration.
Sparticl: This site is a treasure trove of information
for teen-aged learners. It’s divided into living things,
matter and energy, body and brain, tech and
invention and earth and space. Each section
contains informative articles, videos, and
experiments to try at home.
AGE 9
TO
T WEENS
Design Squad: A reality-based show in which teens
aged fifteen to nineteen tackle real-life design
problems. They design machines to solve problems. The
teens compete to win college scholarship money. May be
interesting to teens as well as the 9-12 group.
Cyber-Chase: Jackie, Matt and Inez are earthlings who have
been pulled into a digital universe. They work together to
keep their motherboard safe from Hacker. Math, weather and
environmental knowledge help them solve their problems.
STEM Collaborative: This site has four major
components: math by design, road trip, scale city and
proportionland. Each module offers virtual
environments, simulations, videos and
interactive math challenges.
Most of these websites and
programs are interactive and very
entertaining. Be sure to set an
expectation for hands-on, real-life
projects done in your home as well
as screen learning. Kids love to
experiment and problem-solve.
These sites are a great way to get
their creative juices flowing and
take them into the world of
real-life applications of
STEM learning.
Jan Pierce, M.Ed., is a retired teacher and
the author of Homegrown Readers and
Homegrown Family Fun: Unplugged.
Find Jan at www.janpierce.net