Learn about the world of Gaming & eSports from Steven Shaw (Verizon), Brandon Tschacher (MKE Esports Alliance), Erica Davis (Experis Game Solutions), and Dr. Krista-Lee Malone (UW-Madison). The following videos will give you a look into the variety of tech jobs and careers available to you and how you can prepare for them. Watch one - or all - and hear from experts who are doing these jobs today. As you watch the videos, download our workbook at https://bit.ly/MKEWorksheet to help you reflect on each career path and if that might be the right one for you some day!

In this lesson, 6th grade teacher Lawrence Perretto blends STEM and Project Based Learning by having his students construct model homes to explore how thermal energy moves. Students use iPads and thermometers to gather data about their model homes and determine how to make their homes more energy efficient. Lawrence gives his students a variety of materials to construct insulation with. After insulating their model homes, students conduct more thermal testing. Lawrence concludes the lesson by asking students reflection questions about what they learned through this project.

"The FRONT PORCH of IT"! Hear about help desk careers with Jamie Garancis, (TEKsystems); Casey Buchta (West Bend Mutual Insurance); James Haley (Northwestern Mutual) and moderator Jasmin Treske (MKE Tech). The following videos will give you a look into the variety of tech jobs and careers available to you and how you can prepare for them. Watch one - or all - and hear from experts who are doing these jobs today. As you watch the videos, download our workbook at https://bit.ly/MKEWorksheet to help you reflect on each career path and if that might be the right one for you some day!

This resource contains a series of activities, lessons and ideas for introducing Elementary students to the design thinking process. The author includes connections to Empathy and the implications of designing things with others in mind.

Most people don’t realize that manufacturing is all around them and that almost everything they use is manufactured. Students will be shown ores, steel billets, forged steel, and finished steel parts. Students will learn about how raw materials are mined and then transported from factory to factory in order to be turned into the products that are all around us.

Introduction to the Modeling and Analysis of Complex Systems introduces students to mathematical/computational modeling and analysis developed in the emerging interdisciplinary field of Complex Systems Science. Complex systems are systems made of a large number of microscopic components interacting with each other in nontrivial ways. Many real-world systems can be understood as complex systems, where critically important information resides in the relationships between the parts and not necessarily within the parts themselves. This textbook offers an accessible yet technically-oriented introduction to the modeling and analysis of complex systems. The topics covered include: fundamentals of modeling, basics of dynamical systems, discrete-time models, continuous-time models, bifurcations, chaos, cellular automata, continuous field models, static networks, dynamic networks, and agent-based models. Most of these topics are discussed in two chapters, one focusing on computational modeling and the other on mathematical analysis. This unique approach provides a comprehensive view of related concepts and techniques, and allows readers and instructors to flexibly choose relevant materials based on their objectives and needs. Python sample codes are provided for each modeling example.

It's gooey. It's sticky. It's slime! Learn to make your own homemade slime with this quick and easy recipe.

This series of 5 high-quality, standards-aligned, inquiry-based activities and two environmental STEM challenge activities have been field-tested by kindergarten students and families of Wequiock Children's Center for Environmental Science during Safer At Home orders. These activities encourage students to use natural areas around their homes and in their neigbhorhoods as they improve their science observation and reasoning skils as they explore the science of pushes and pulls in nature. The materials used are ones generally available at home and the activites require little preparation on the part of caregivers. Created as a part of a WISELearn OER Innovation project, Connect, Explore, and Engage: Using the Environment as the Context for Science Learning was a collaboration of the Wequiock Children's Center for Environmental Science and the Wisconsin Green Schools Network. One of the goals of the project was to create standards-aligned lessons that utilize the outdoor spaces of the school (as well as those of the students' homes).  Each section of this resource is an individual activity. While each activity builds on the previous ones, it is possible to use them individually.The title image was used with permission and is courtesy of Joe Riederer.

Hear from David Blechl, (Northwestern Mutual); Brooke Schoenherr, (Milwaukee Bucks); and Kat Kuester, (Concurrency). Moderated by Julie Walker (UW-Milwaukee). The following videos will give you a look into the variety of tech jobs and careers available to you and how you can prepare for them. Watch one - or all - and hear from experts who are doing these jobs today. As you watch the videos, download our workbook at https://bit.ly/MKEWorksheet to help you reflect on each career path and if that might be the right one for you some day!

In this fun activity, you will investigate some of the processes that happen in the water cycle-inside a small plastic bag.

Rubber band-powered cars can be made from a variety of materials, but they all have one thing in common. A rubber band is wound around an axle, a cylindrical rod that passes through the centers of the wheels. As you twist the axle and tighten the rubber band, it stretches and stores elastic potential energy. When you release the axle, the rubber band contracts, and this potential energy is converted to kinetic energy, the energy of motion, and the wheels will spin. Depending on the amount of friction with the ground, the wheels might propel the car forward, or they might just spin in place! The frictional force between the wheels and the ground depends on both the weight of the car and the coefficient of friction, which depends on the materials the wheels and ground are made of. That is a lot of physics in one little device!

Meet the Lab is a collection of educational resources made for middle school science classrooms. The collection connects learners to relevant real-world issues, cutting-edge research, and the human element: people working together to research, innovate, and solve problems using science. ​​Visit the Educator Resources page at https://pbswisconsineducation.org/meetthelab/educator-resources/ for a guide to each lab, with standards supported, guiding questions, and more.

Hands-on, project based learning for Grades 4 to 8. Students use design thinking processes to solve engineering challenges. These space engineering themed lessons will engage students as they apply creative problem-solving skills. Resource includes a full downloadable guidebook. The guidebook includes a description of the design process, 5 design challenges, student handouts, and rubrics. It also includes links to other valuable resources and connection to standards (i.e. Next Generation Science, National Standards).

Meet the Nervous System Engineers—a team of scientists at the Ashton Group who make nervous system tissue to find treatments for nervous system diseases and injuries.

Resources available for learning about this lab include:
• Interactive cards designed to introduce students to scientists in a more personal way
• A video with a personal story that explains why the lab's research matters in real life
• Questions to consider that will spark connection, reflection, and conversation
• An interactive video experience where you can ask questions of scientists in the lab and learn about their research
• An inquiry-based activity that focuses on doing science, using some of the same science practices that the lab uses
• An educator guide with information about standards alignment, curriculum connections, and tips for using the media resources

These resources are part of Meet the Lab, a collection of educational resources for middle school science classrooms.

From Site:
NASA and DESIGN SQUAD developed this online workshop for educators and afterschool leaders who want to build their skills and confidence in guiding kids through engineering activities.

Whether you're experienced or new at this, you'll come away with insights and strategies for strengthening your kids' critical-thinking abilities and getting them excited about using the design process, the series of steps engineers use to arrive at solutions.

In this self-guided workshop, you'll:

Experience the design process in action. Learn and reflect on ways you can use the design process to tap into your kids' problem-solving skills and creativity.

Watch an engineering activity. See how easy it is to integrate the design process into the hands-on activities you do with your kids.

Get resources. Discover a variety of engineering activities from NASA and DESIGN SQUAD for kids in grades K–12.

A Great Group / Collaboration Activity to begin teaching the Ideas of Potential and Kinetic Energy.

A stick bomb is a (mechanical) spring-loaded device constructed out of popsicle sticks woven together under a bending moment.

In this lesson, students will compare weather and climate, explain patterns over time and make observations by creating a rain gauge.

NGSS: 3-ESS2-1

Time: 55 minutes

Materials: laminated patterns in nature photos (photos included), thermometer for the class, duct tape, data sheet, rulers, sharpies, scissors, empty soda bottles for rain gauages, pebbles

What do plants need? Students examine the effects of light and air on green plants, learning the processes of photosynthesis and transpiration. Student teams plant seeds, placing some in sunlight and others in darkness. They make predictions about the outcomes and record ongoing observations of the condition of the stems, leaves and roots. Then, several healthy plants are placed in glass jars with lids overnight. Condensation forms, illustrating the process of transpiration, or the release of moisture to the atmosphere by plants.

Students will compare and contrast adult plants and seedlings/young plants using pictures, journaling, growing plants in the classroom and comparing experimental plant growth with natural plant growth to learn why plants survive and where.

Students gain an understanding of the parts of a plant, plant types and how they produce their own food from sunlight through photosynthesis. They also learn about transpiration, the process by which plants release moisture to the atmosphere. With this understanding, students test the effects of photosynthesis and transpiration by growing a plant from seed. They learn how plants play an important part in maintaining a balanced environment in which the living organisms of the Earth survive. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their evolving understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.