Code Breaking, Spy Hunting and Other Stories of Women in STEM

Laurie Wallmark returns to share two new stories celebrating women in STEM: Code Breaker, Spy Hunter (about Elizabeth Friedman) and Numbers in Motion (a story about Sophie Kowalevski). As we discover the fascinating stories of these important women, we also discuss the role of STEM in schools and realize the importance of exposing all kids to STEM learning opportunities. About […]

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Bringing Science Home with Science Buddies

As schooling has expanded into our homes during the pandemic, it’s no surprise that online resources geared towards learning at home have been extremely valuable. That’s why our exploration into science at home connects us with Ben Finio and Svenja Lohner, both senior staff scientists at Science Buddies. With an emphasis on providing kid-friendly, bite-sized STEM learning activities for students […]

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What Students Can Learn from Perseverance

“If we can do this, then where do we go from here? We’re doing the impossible, every single time we land on Mars” -Brandon Rodriguez Our exploration into distance learning takes on new meaning this week, as we discover what’s next from the Perseverance rover that recently landed on Mars. To guide us in the conversation, we welcome Brandon Rodriguez […]

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Igniting Science Curiosity Across Africa

As we continue to explore how science education has adapted to during the pandemic, a new science TV show out of Africa caught our eye. In part created to accommodate learning at home through broadcast television, N*Gen has grown into a Pan-African TV show that encourages science across borders and allows African children to see themselves as scientists. With a […]

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Connect Students to NASA’s #LaunchAmerica with Online Resources and Activities

Our guest this week is Kris Brown from the Office of STEM Engagement at NASA. As a NASA engineer, Kris used to work with critical hardware used on numerous shuttle missions. Now, as Deputy Associate Administrator for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, Kris works towards creating unique opportunities for students and the public to contribute to NASA’s work in exploration […]

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The 2019 Engineering Gift Guide

Returning for a second year, we are happy to welcome Dr. Elizabeth Gajdzik and Dr. Tamara Moore back to the show to showcase the 2019 Engineering Gift Guide. Each year, Purdue’s INSPIRE Research Institute lab evaluates toys, games, and books that engage girls and boys in engineering thinking and design. Elizabeth and Tamara join us to talk about the selected […]

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Women in STEM Picture Book Biographies

This week we welcome Laurie Wallmark to the show.  As a computer science teacher and award-winning children’s author, Laurie has been writing picture book biographies that recognize women in STEM.  Her breakout book Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine (Creston Books) debuted in 2017 and was readily recognized with numerous awards.  Laurie’s most recent book, Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life, was just […]

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Learn the Science, Live the Book with STEM Read

Gillian King-Cargile and Dr. Kristin Brynteson join us this week to talk about STEM Read – a program from Northern Illinois University that uses live and online programs to inspire a broad range of readers in order to learn more about the science, technology, engineering, and math concepts in popular fiction. Listen to the show to learn more about STEM Read […]

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Engineering Thinking and Design in STEM Toys and Books

This week we talk STEM gifts with Monica Cardella and Elizabeth Gajdzik from Purdue’s INSPIRE Research Institute. Each year, the INSPIRE lab evaluates toys, games, and books that engage girls and boys in engineering thinking and design. Monica and Elizabeth join us to talk about some gifts on the list, how they are evaluated and share some advice for educators who would […]

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STEM Learning with the Misty II Advanced Personal Robot

This week we talk with Tim Enwall, CEO of Misty Robotics. A spin-off company from Sphero, Inc., Misty Robotics is focused on building personal robots for the home and office. They recently announced Misty II, a first-of-its-kind easily programmable robot, complete with a special program for STEM teachers and students. Listen to the show to hear about the growing robotics industry, […]

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STEM Learning and Other Resources from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture

To learn about STEM resources and other learning opportunities within ag science, we welcome Leah Gibson to the show. As Education Specialist from the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, Leah helps provide and share K-12 educator resources about agriculture. Listen to the show to hear Leah tell us about the STEM challenges and resources found in Purple Plow, games […]

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NSTA Podcast Crossover with Blick on Flicks

NSTA members will probably recognize our guest as the man behind Blick on Flicks: Jacob Clark Blickenstaff. As we both podcast for NSTA, we thought it was time to invite Jacob to the show and geek out about science and movies! Jacob talks to us about his column and podcast, gives us some hints for finding science anomalies in the […]

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STEM Education in the Every Student Succeeds Act

As the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) takes full effect this fall, educators might be curious to know how this new legislation affects STEM education. To help us navigate through ESSA, we welcome James Brown to the show. As executive director of the STEM Education Coalition, James works with the Coalition to raise awareness in Congress, the Administration, and other organizations about […]

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Teaching as a True Profession

From Math for America, we welcome John Ewing (President) and Megan Roberts (Executive Director) to the show.  With a goal of making teaching a viable, rewarding and respected career, MƒA provides a mechanism that encourages professional STEM educators to engage in their subject matter while working in a collaborative and supportive environment.  In practice, MƒA’s fellowship program engages New York City teachers to engage in professional growth […]

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Underwater Robot Takes STEM to New Heights

Fredi Lavjardi teaches marine science at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, where he is also coach of Falcon Robotics – an extracurricular high school STEM program that won the 2004 MATE National Underwater ROV championships with their robot “Stinky”, besting juggernaut teams such as MIT.  This inspiring story was originally covered by Wired Magazine, expanded by the same author into a book, and graced […]

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STEM and Modern Agriculture

Valerie Bayes joins Lab Out Loud this week to talk about modern agriculture.  As the K-12 STEM Outreach Lead for Monsanto, Valerie is busy engaging educators in modern agriculture where cross-cutting concepts like engineering, math, and biology are used to solve important problems in our world today.  Through Monsanto’s STEM page, Valerie assists educators in finding powerful classroom resources and even helps teachers […]

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Carving into STEM with Inventables

Our guest this week is Zach Kaplan.  As founder and CEO of Inventables, Kaplan hopes to inspire and enlist a new wave of makers with tools like Carvey (a desktop 3D carving machine) and Easel (a simple and free cloud-based app for 3D design to carving).  In schools, with an increased focus on engineering and a push to include more STEAM classes and Makerspaces, these tools […]

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First Crew To Mars Is Likely In Middle School Right Now – Help Prepare Them With Generation Beyond

Our guest this week is former astronaut Stephen Frick, Director of Strategic Planning and Operations at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center. Lockheed Martin and Discovery Education have partnered to launch the next phase of Generation Beyond – an initiative to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to prepare today’s middle school students for deep space […]

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Global Virtual Field Trip to Mars – Oct 4

Sponsored by Lockheed Martin and Discovery Education, middle school students from around the World are are invited to explore STEM Careers in Deep Space Exploration with this Inaugural Virtual Event on October 4, 2016. WHAT: Global Virtual Field Trip for Middle School Classrooms, which features unique access to: Orion crew module and the test lab team simulating and testing Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) […]

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Invention-Based Learning with littleBits STEAM Set

At SXSWedu, we were fortunate to see littleBits founder and CEO Ayah Bdeir unveil the new littleBits STEAM set (watch here).  In fact, we were quite impressed to hear about their gender neutral design and see examples of students using the sets to solve real problems. We immediately knew that we had to find out more about this invention-based learning tool, so we are proud to welcome littleBits’ […]

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