Hello world!
Starting today, we’ll be doing a once-weekly review of some popular homeschooling STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) resources from our perspective as three engineers from MIT and Cornell, with a bit of educational theory we’ve picked up as we think about designing our own course thrown in.
Photo by Argonne National Laboratory, Flickr Creative Commons
Our first post will be very short, a list of links (with some brief categorization) for you to pursue in your own time. These are general internet resources — in the future, we may cover more regional resources (we are local to Cambridge, MA, USA).
Projects
On the project-based learning side (also referred to as “maker” or “do-it-yourself” sites) we have some excellent sites for project ideas and tutorials. These tend to have a wide variety of projects suitable for all ages.
- instructables.com ”Instructables is a place that lets you explore, document, and share your DIY creations.”
- learn.adafruit.com ”Adafruit Industries, Unique & fun DIY electronics and kits”
- learn.sparkfun.com ”SparkFun’s Department of Education uses electronics as a creative medium and hands-on learning tool”
- diy.org ”Get skills. Be awesome.”
- solarbotics.com/catalog/kits/ ”Competition robot kits, solar-powered robots, electronic components, motors, and information on the field of BEAM Robotics”
- http://pbskids.org/designsquad/ ”Try engineering and science activities or compete in contests on DESIGN SQUADNATION’s educational website for kids. Read a blog from real engineers.”
Sites from Museums / Public Agencies
Museums have developed some excellent resources over the years. These tend to be K-12 resources.