STUDENTS
Math and science can be hard subjects for some students. For others, it just comes naturally. Whether you love these subjects and want to learn more, or you are having trouble and need some help, this is the place for you. No matter what your ability, we know you always need some encouragement… and sometimes, just a break.
Find the category in the sidebar to the right that fits you best to see the latest news, links, resources, and events.
K-Middle School Resources
Engineer Girl: The EngineerGirl website is designed to bring national attention to the exciting opportunities that engineering represents for girls and women. The website is a service of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Girls Who Code: Clubs for students to explore coding in a fun & friendly environment.
Space Rangers! A book-based science adventure: The best way to get kids learning is to build on their curiosity and interests. The Space Rangers program is kid-centered with an emphasis on inquiry and creativity.
Coding with Kids + Amazon Future Engineer: Coding with Kids is a computer science academy for ages 5-16. Their mission is to inspire students around the country to become future engineers and inventors!
FUN SCIENCE TOYS, EXPERIMENTS, AND HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES: Looking for easy science experiments, inexpensive science supplies, educational toys, or eye-catching science fair projects? Steve Spangler Science offers hundreds of science experiments and science demos that inspire the imagination and make learning fun.
Science Experiments to Do With Mentos, Pop Rocks, and Other Candy: Popping Pop-Rocks and Mentos candy into your mouth may be a sweet treat to enjoy, but did you know there are other fun things you can do with candy? From a colorful geyser to mixing candies in water to exploring whether candy will sink or float, candy of all types can be a tasty way to learn about science and math.
FREE Process of Science Cut-Out Activity!: Your students can print or draw their own Data Dilemma puzzle at home or school, and use the tangram pieces to model how scientists incorporate new evidence into a working model of their research topic.
Girl Power in STEM at UCA: Girl Power in STEM (GPS) is a unique opportunity for 8th graders in Arkansas to gain hands-on experience and learn about the role women play in careers related to science, technology, engineering, and math.
Girls of Promise: Girls of Promise is an initiative of the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas, which exposes girls to opportunities and mentors in STEAM fields with the goal of increasing the number of women in higher-level STEAM courses, careers, and putting them on the path to achieve economic security as women.
High School and Undergraduate Resources
High Schooler’s Guide to Preparing For a Top Engineering College: This guide aims to assist high school students as they plan their attendance to a top engineering college. Each chapter offers advice and suggestions to help students in each grade level succeed. It covers topics including academics, application advice, and extracurricular activities.
iON Future: This site lets you explore STEM careers, find the ones that best match your interests, and play your way to your dream STEM future. The site is sponsored by Change the Equation.
Engineer Your Life: This engineering site for high school girls includes sections on why engineering, making it happen, photos and text about women engineers, YouTube videos and blogs, plus sections for teachers and counselors.
Discover Engineering: On this site, check out reasons to love engineering, career outlooks on engineering jobs of the future, information on specific engineering jobs, and school information to prepare you to excel in your engineering career.
Careers in Botany: Botany is the scientific study of plants. “Plants,” to most people, means a wide range of living organisms from the smallest bacteria to the largest living things – the giant sequoia trees. By this definition plants include: algae, fungi, lichens, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. Today scientists believe bacteria, algae and fungi are in their own distinct kingdoms, but most general botany courses, and most Botany Departments at colleges and universities, still teach about these groups.
Cyber Career Cards: Find information and descriptions of the many exciting careers available today within the cyber workforce on NICERC’s cyber career profile cards! This free resources is available for parents, educators, and students as they uncover the career possibilities available in today’s workforce.
Amazon Future Engineer + Edhesive: The Amazon Future Engineer program initiative seeks to dramatically expand access to high caliber preparatory courses, curricular resources, and programs for schools and districts to help prepare and propel high school students forward in their pursuit of AP Computer Science education.
$40,000 scholarships and guaranteed Amazon internships: The inaugural Amazon Future Engineer scholarships support college-bound seniors in underrepresented and underserved communities.
The Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship helps students cross the finish line: Post-9/11 GI Bill students who are pursuing degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) can apply for the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship. It’s a new program to help eligible Veterans and Fry Scholars extend their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to cover a STEM undergraduate degree or teaching certification.
A Guide to STEM Majors: With strong industry growth predicted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and high-paying STEM majors topping the chart in the National Association of Colleges and Employers Winter 2019 Salary Survey, career options are abundant and wages are promising for graduates.
A Guide for Women to Break Into Information Technology: The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) reports that while 57% of the workforce is made up of women, only 26% hold computing jobs.
Girls Who Code: Girls Who Code offers a wide range of programs aimed at supporting college-aged students and early career professionals (18-25) in persisting in their computer science education and succeeding in their first internships and jobs.
PYTHON PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE: THE BASICS: With approximately 600 programming languages in existence, you might be surprised to learn that there are only a few that are truly critical to the knowledge base – primarily because they form the foundation of computer programming. Python in particular is a standout language because of its widespread use and code readability.
Best Online Schools of 2021: Colleges and universities now have online courses that make it easier for people all over the country to get an education exactly where they want to. Online colleges and universities have made higher education much more accessible than it was in the past, and it is a great way to improve your career prospects.
GLAMS at SouthArk: SouthArk promotes excellence in learning, teaching, and service; provides lifelong educational opportunities; and serves as a cultural, intellectual, and economic resource for the community.
STEM Internships, Fellowships, and Mentoring
- The Department of Energy has programs throughout the country to encourage minority and underrepresented students to pursue a career in STEM. More information can be found here.
- Be Pro Be Proud is a mobile technical trade truck! Follow #BeProBeProud to find out where this tricked-out trailer will be next. And look for us at training seminars around the state. A different path to success begins now and you don’t want to miss it! More information can be found here.
Robotics Opportunities
FIRST® Robotics Competitions are for students in grades 9-12. The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills; inspire innovation; and foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Check out this video from FIRST® Robotics to find out more about this organization!
Guided by two or more adult coaches, FIRST LEGO League teams (up to 10 members, grades 4-8) research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc., and are challenged to develop a solution. They also must design, build, and program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS®; then compete on a table-top playing field. It all adds up to tons of fun while they learn to apply STEM concepts, plus a big dose of imagination, to solve a problem.
For information regarding FIRST® in Arkansas Robotics, contact State Director, Dana Hobbs, at [email protected], or (603)-3906 5996.
Through participation in Best Robotics’ project-based STEM program, students learn to analyze and solve problems utilizing the Engineering Design Process, which helps them develop technological literacy skills. It is these skills that industry seeks in its workforce. Each fall, over 850 middle and high schools and over 18,000 students participate in the competition.
There are four Best Robotics “Hubs” in Arkansas: Fort Smith, Harrison, Jonesboro, and Little Rock. Fort Smith is the main location at UAFS. For more information, please contact Jason Merritt at [email protected] or (479) 788-7877.
The Botball® Educational Robotics Program engages middle and high school aged students in a team-oriented robotics competition and serves as a perfect way to meet today’s new common core standards. By exposing students to an inquiry-based, learn-by-doing activity that appeals to their hearts as well as their minds, Botball® addresses our nation’s need for a well-prepared, creative, yet disciplined workforce with leadership and teamwork experience.
Oklahoma is the nearest Botball® region.
For more information, please contact Steve Goodgame, Director of the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, at (405) 579-4609.
The Regional Autonomous Robotics Circuit (RARC) is a competition series that allows students in grades 3-12 to showcase their STEM skills by competing against other teams in dynamic challenges. The hands-on challenges serve a dual purpose: introduce STEM concepts and their many applications and reinforce STEM fundamentals learned in the classroom.
Checkout the Arkansas Competitions for 2019. For more information about participating, contact NICERC at [email protected] or visit their website here.
The VEX Robotics Design System is the exclusive robotics platform offered to PLTW schools, bringing exciting opportunities for students including the chance to take PLTW’s courses that have been updated with rigorous hands-on, project-based robotics lessons.
For more information about Arkansas VEX® Robotics Competitions, contact the Director of the STEM Institute at ATU, Sarah Burnett, at [email protected] or (479) 880-4323.
Parents and Students can Learn about Coding with TestProject
This website is the perfect resource for students and parents to learn how to code. For each coding language, TestProject has provided excellent introduction websites, cheatsheets, comprehensive learning materials, online communities to join, and overall a plethora of professional development resources.
PARENTS
Parents are the best resource…
For teachers and parents alike, often the problem is not seeing the importance of education in math, science, and the like, but in knowing how to encourage children. The following links impart some good tips for ways in which you can spark interest in your children and bring out their hidden strengths.
STEM Tools at Home
This article offers good ideas for parents of K-12 students who would like to cultivate their child’s interest in science at home.
Learn to Code From Home
From essential lectures to interactive activities, anyone can learn how to code at their own pace with these free resources and save money.
Virtual Farm Field Trips
The Apple Seeds Teaching Farm in Fayetteville, Arkansas has a green impact on local schools and agencies in Northwest Arkansas and now has a growing, virtual program available for students and teachers.
How to Impart STEM Education to Your Children
Here are some simple steps and advice you can use to nurture and support your child’s learning.
STEMcareer.com
“For those seeking and promoting STEM careers”: This website has great tips for parents with children who already show an aptitude for the sciences, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics, and who need continued encouragement.
Getting Girls Interested in STEM Education
It is important to introduce STEM learning as early as preschool to children of all genders. It’s never too early to introduce STEM learning into your child’s life. Throughout this guide, you will find several ways to help prevent your daughter from falling into the STEM gap, including activities, toys, curriculum, and more.
Camp Aspire
Camp Aspire provides options to replace traditional summer enrichment programs like face-to-face summer camps that have been cancelled while giving parents an opportunity to keep their children learning robotics and specialized skills, like problem-solving and engineering, through the summer months.
Learning Blade has Parent Discussions!
These ready-to-use handouts can be downloaded and emailed to parents to stimulate STEM and Computer Science conversations at home, and help fill ESSA requirements for parental involvement.
Questions and activities are designed for parents to engage with their child about their future careers and academics.