Calendar to Celebrate Diversity in STEM Year-round
First Book, in partnership with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), has created the 2020–2021 Diversity in STEM Calendar, a free tool designed to help educators bring amazing moments of innovation to life and showcase the incredible contributions of diverse STEM pioneers with children across the country. The calendar highlights game-changing contributions of women and people of color to science, medicine, space exploration, artificial intelligence development, and more. It includes fascinating facts, religious and cultural observances, and notable dates of cultural, historical, or inclusive significance in STEM fields. In addition, the calendar includes instructions for science investigations that require minimal materials and no special equipment. The freely downloadable 2020–2021 Diversity in STEM Calendar is available in English and Spanish.
For more than 35 years, TheWhite House Office of Science and Technology has bestowed the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) upon STEM teachers across the country and in US jurisdictions.
In April 2019, scientists obtained the first image of a black hole, using Event Horizon Telescope observations of the center of the galaxy M87. The image shows a bright ring formed as light bends in the intense gravity around a black hole. Teachers can capture students’ enthusiasm about black holes by challenging them to solve the standards-aligned math problems provided by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
Twig Science Reporter is a freeweekly science news service for K–6 classrooms created in partnership with Imperial College London to connect science lessons with real-world STEM news and events through high-quality video and other learning resources to pique students’ interest.