STEM-ID Science Explorations consist of nine 1-week modules that promote 3-dimensional teaching and data-related practices, situated in earth, life, and physical science contexts.
Students engage as biologists advising the government and citizens of Fiji on recent acceleration in the death of coral reefs around Fiji. The module covers some basic concepts of ecosystems, food web/chains, and predator prey relationships.
Students engage as scientists to analyze images of corals to evaluate the health of deep-sea ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The module helps students define and quantify data as well as differentiate between temporal and spatial data. It covers some basic concepts of ecosystems, abiotic and biotic factor, and benthic environments.
Students engage as environmental engineers to develop a procedure that would remove the largest amount of oil from the ocean in the shortest time possible in the event of a large-scale oil spill. The module covers some basic concepts on how human actions impact an ecosystem and different methods of reducing the damage of oil spills on the environment.
Students engage as earth scientists to plot and analyze spatial and temporal earthquake data to help a company decide where to build its new cell phone manufacturing plant in northern California. The module covers basic concepts of seismology, plate tectonics, and the earth’s structure.
Students engage as earth scientists to develop a procedure for measuring lava flow to help a town adjacent to a volcano develop evacuation plans in the event of an eruption. The module covers some basic concepts regarding volcanoes, lava, and igneous rock formation.
In this module students play the role of school officials and have to decide whether to close school or keep it open based on weather forecasts. They are introduced to weather concepts and terminology and forecasting basics while learning how to read and analyze forecasts from the National Weather Service.
Students engage as crash-test scientists for the SkateTech company to test helmets for skateboarders. The module covers some basic concepts regarding energy, energy transfer, linear and non-linear graphs and brain injuries in sports.
Students engage as environmental engineers to develop a procedure to determine how the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill landed at the bottom of the ocean. The module covers some basic concepts of density and the factors that affect the movement of particles in fluids.
Students engage as product reviewers for the SkateTech company’s website to craft a product review of various helmets for various abilities of skateboarders. The module covers some basic concepts regarding energy, energy transfer and brain injuries in sports, while mostly introducing and reinforcing the concept that good decisions are made on scientific evidence.
