The curricular materials below have been developed by ITEST projects and shared for dissemination to broader audiences through STELAR’s resource library. ITEST projects work with PreK-12 youth in a variety of STEM disciplines and settings. Additional information is included within each entry, including information about the project’s focus and audience, as well as PDFs and/or URLs to the original resource. These materials are made available for public use through the National Science Foundation’s public access policy, which encourages funded projects to share all materials generated over the course of the grant. Unless otherwise noted, these curricular materials are free to use with appropriate credit to the organization/authors.
Changing Expectations
Curricular Materials
Project Lead the Way
Curricular Materials
ESTRELLA Expand Latinx Learners’ Authentic Experiences in Computer Programming
Curricular MaterialsThe curriculum was designed for and renovated through the participation and feedback of middle school students. It integrates basics of Computer Programming and Mathematics concepts and activities needed to represent digital video and color images. It draws on the almost natural motivation of users, middle school students, with digital image and video. The curriculum contains two Levels. Level-1 introduces the concepts of image and video representations. Level-2 takes these basic concepts to a next step by introducing object operations connected to videos, images, and even robots. The
Computer Forensics Summer Academy & STEM CareerBuilder
Curricular MaterialsThe STEM CareerBuilder research and development (R&D) project aims to (1) explore what strategic government-university-industry partnerships and (2) study how technology-enriched interventions can encourage and support high school students with their pursuit of STEM education and careers. Multi-tier interventions with age-appropriate, interdisciplinary content, real-word context, and co-educational curricula include: Computer Forensics Summer Academy, mentoring, job shadowing, internships, research fellowships, and professional development.ActivitiesCrime Scene InvestigationFingerprint
ASSISTments Assignments
Curricular Materials"Stories of Algebra" is a series or activities in the ASSISTments platform where students pose, solve, and share algebra problems related to their interests. Stories of Algebra created an experience where students receive activities personalized to their career interests (e.g., healthcare, IT), and/or personalized to their everyday interests (e.g., sports, video games). They have created these activities to a wide variety of types of mathematical functions - including linear, exponential, logarithmic, and power - and have targeted their activities to algebraic courses from 8th grade math, to
GIS-Infused CTE Business Course: Mapping My Community
Curricular MaterialsYour mental map is a representation of your own personal geography that you carry around with you and draw on as you make everyday decisions about where to go and how to get there. Everyone’s mental map is different. Mental maps reflect the spatial information we use in our daily lives, like where we know and where we don’t know, and they are influenced by things like personal experiences, transportation, safety, and accessibility.Maps are models of the world around us. Creating a map requires selecting what information is important, filtering out what is not important, and simplifying how
Teacher Training Guide: Problem-based Learning in STEM
Curricular MaterialsProject STEMulate utilizes a Problem-based Learning model and approach to stimulate STEM interest, knowledge and skills of Hawai’i’s high school students. Specifically, providing a STEM curricula that actively engages students in real-world, technology-based problem solving and learning. Project STEMulate seeks to transform the learning experience for high school students to motivate and prepare them for the STEM careers of tomorrow by supporting today’s teachers.Project STEMulate created, implemented, and iterated the design of a Problem-based Learning in STEM Professional Development and
Make Way for Trains! Holding Back Earth Materials
Curricular MaterialsA Community-Connected Elementary Geotechnical Engineering UnitIn the “Make Way for Trains” unit (MWT), students explore key concepts of geotechnical engineering in the context of a train track expansion for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA): as railway corridors are widened, the sloping earth material surrounding the tracks must simultaneously support existing structures and not fall onto the tracks. Developed specifically for the Boston, Massachusetts, context, the unit begins with a look at how MBTA workers employ science and engineering for the geotechnical support for
Teaching Coding in Grades 5-8 with Scratch Encore
Curricular MaterialsOverview: This course prepares learners to teach coding in grades 5-8 with the Scratch Encore curriculum and was designed to be completed over the course of 6 weeks. Each week learners are introduced to a new computer science concept and the Scratch Encore module that teaches that concept. Many coding and debugging scaffolds that have been used and refined in classrooms are introduced.Week 1: Scratch Basics Introduction to the Scratch Encore curriculum, the Scratch programming environment, and the Scratch Basics moduleWeek 2: Events Introduction to the Events module, helpful Scratch skills
Artifacts in Space (Grades 3-5)
Curricular MaterialsArtifacts in spaceEssential Question: How can I increase students’ knowledge about astronauts of color and expose them to careers in aerospace and engineering?Learning Objective: Students will be able to develop listening, reading, and comprehension skills by hearing and reading stories about contemporary astronauts and make a model of a space shuttle. Lesson 1: Astronauts of Color and the Space ShuttleLesson 2: Culturally Relevant Artifacts for Space LaunchLesson 3: Mission Mars