Keeping the Wonder of SCIENCE and MATH Alive
From Rick McMaster
It’s Engineers Week! Discover “E” will continue well past this single week. Throughout the school year engineers and technical professionals will continue to visit classrooms around the world to excite students about STEM careers and explain why being STEM-literate is so important.

There are many resources available to volunteers; I have mentioned a few before – PBS Kids spans pre-K to high school. Teachers TryScience is not just for teachers but also for informal educators. Let’s take a look this month at MIT’s own BLOSSOMS – Blended Learning Open Source Science Or Math Studies.

If you are not familiar with BLOSSOMS, you should take a close look. The BLOSSOMS modules are ready made for a classroom visit. They encompass complete lessons including interactions with the students, resources, and a teachers guide to help you make the most of the material. Flu Math Games, seems very appropriate this time of the year. Let’s look at it in depth.

First, notice that this (and many other lessons) is available in languages other than English with either subtitles or voice-overs. Because the lessons have been developed by the world-wide community, the initial language used is sometimes not English.

There is a wealth of information available for this lesson, from a brief summary to a transcript – again in multiple languages. When you access the video for this lesson you will see that it is offered in a variety of formats. If you do not have access to the internet or have a limited bandwidth, you can download the video in advance and play it directly from your local system. This lesson includes six simulations which allow the user to vary the parameters to see their impact on an outbreak of the flu. One of the additional resources is “The Great Flu Game”. Will the simulations give students a better chance of managing a flu outbreak in this game?

What more could a Discover “E” volunteer need going to the classroom, whether it’s their first time or if they are a seasoned veteran? Today there are almost 90 lessons available spanning biology, chemistry, engineering, math, and physics and the number is growing. It’s likely one or more will work with your area of expertise. Since they are mapped to the US and state standards you will also be able to tell the teacher how they fit into the curriculum.

I recommend that EWeek volunteers give the BLOSSOMS lessons a test drive. Then introduce this resource to the teachers so they can take full advantage. Experienced informal educators should think about contributing their own lessons to BLOSSOMS. Details on “Create Your Video” can be found on the website. I’ve done it and it’s very rewarding.

As always, your comments and suggestions for future columns are welcome, @drkold. Thanks and Happy EWeek!

Rick McMaster is the STEM Advocate at IBM’s University Programs Worldwide.

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