It should be of no RE@L surprise to our savvy RE@L readers that we at RE@L, Inc. are constantly working the iterative process to improve our current products and develop new ones. At RE@L, we believe that K12 students, both girls and boys, need to learn more about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). STEM helps students and their teachers better understand the fast-changing world we live in today. 
Further, it helps prepare our youth for tomorrow’s growing number of satisfying STEM careers.
At RE@L, we are committed to ‘educating towards innovation’. As educators, we understand the importance of creating in our students ‘a new cohort of solution-finders for real world problems.’ It’s with this in mind that we share RE@L’s Roundup Of Random, But Relevant Reads: STEM Edition.
With summer vacation staring us in the eyes, the STEM-savvy parent may be thinking about STEM-based activities for children. Carolyn Davis from teachersareterrific.com has compiled a nice list of projects that are likely to stimulate those sleepy summer neurons! See her project list, “Summer Camp STEM (Fun Projects)” here.
If you are a vegetarian, you may have become acclimated to plant-based foods — even hamburgers. Somehow a seaweed sandwich does not get the Blogmeister into salivation mode. However, for those who have made that commitment, the folks at scitechdaily.com recently published an article you may find interesting. Check out: “Microbial Protein” — Fungi-Based Meat Alternatives Can Help Save Earth’s Forests.
On March 20, the RE@LBlog published a RE@LCast™ featuring Ellie, a senior student from a Wisconsin high school who was getting herself lined up for STEM-based careers. Click [here] to hear it again. As an update, the Blogmeister can report that Ellie has selected a school: Go Cyclones! Ellie provided for us what we at RE@L hope is a trend that continues: women pursuing STEM-based careers! For those who share that interest, you may wish to read the article, “Table of Experts — Women in construction”, published online by bizjournals.com.
Besides Ellie’s school, there are thousands of schools around the country that have made the commitment to focus on STEM-based careers. At Pine Grove Middle School in Valdosta, Georgia, community members, including government officials, military and business leaders met with students for a career day. Brittanya Blake, writer for the Valdosta Daily Times, writes about it here in “STEM Exploration: Program Introduces Students To Possible Careers”
The world’s recent experience with a pandemic has scientists working feverishly in labs across the globe in a race to get out in front of the next pandemic, especially one which begins with an animal and is transmitted to human beings. This proactive approach is highly-paced and filled with anxiety as the proverbial clock ticks to the next raging viral disease. For those more interested in what goes on in this frantic search for next possible epidemic you may wish to read “Which Animal Viruses Could Infect People? Computers Are Racing To Find Out” published by The New York Times.
As an educator, I’ve heard STEM-savvy parents say, “I don’t want my kid to have a ‘crappy’ job someday. It’s why I’m steering them into STEM-based careers.” Well, don’t be too quick to think that these ideas are mutually exclusive! As reported this spring in the Los Angeles Times, monitoring the pandemic has resulted in a practice that just may become normalized in future epidemics. For more information read, “Poop surveillance proved its worth during pandemic, could become standard practice”. Good to know there are relevant STEM careers awaiting our future workforce on both the front end and … er … on the back end of a pandemic as well.
And finally, it’s likely that between now and the next RE@LBlog post, you may experience the excitement of a fireworks display on or around the Fourth of July. Put it on your to-do list if it’s not already there. But what are the basics about fireworks? How do these things work? If these questions are points of curiosity to you, then you may wish to read Accuweather’s explanation, “The science behind fireworks: ‘Chemistry In Action’.”
And……. prepare yourself………Our next RE@LBlog is scheduled for publication on July 10, and if you have enjoyed our RE@LCast™ podcasting series, you will enjoy hearing from a practicing STEM teacher, a Nationally Board Certified Teacher, and a state Teacher-of-the-Year ALL-IN-ONE. And if that does not make her busy enough, she is also writing her first book! As you might expect, there will be lots of energy to share in our next RE@LCast™. I cannot wait to introduce her to you!
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Some of the graphics on this post have been provided by pixy.org