The Science of Innovation
3-D printers and electronic tattoos are just some of the inventions featured in a new video series launched to mark Thomas Edison’s 165th birthday. Produced in collaboration by NBCLearn, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the “Science of Innovation” includes 11 segments – with related lessons – illuminating the process by which scientists and engineers develop innovative ideas into patents and products.
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Benjy Miegs, a snow sculptor and student at Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering, explains snow sculpting in this cool video.
Seeing is believing, but what about hearing? To encourage more girls to go into STEM fields, the Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics has developed On The Air, an online radio series featuring stories of fascinating women scientists, engineers, and educators.
Like Curious George, children are naturally inquisitive and eager to learn by doing. To help kindergarten and first graders explore science and engineering, the PBS team that produces the Curious George series for TV and online has published a new family STEM activity booklet. 
Ainissa Ramirez, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science at Yale, explains the wonders of her ever-expanding field in a series of YouTube videos. In the latest, she describes how a layer of carbon that is one atom thick, called graphene, will revolutionize our lives.
Tired of digging into your pocket because your school’s shoestring budget won’t stretch to cover materials or equipment? A new grant-finding site offers a free, searchable database – updated daily – of more than 600 grants and other funding opportunities culled from federal, state, regional, and community sources.
Why do airplanes fly? What is genetic engineering? To help K-12 students and teachers understand such topics, MIT has tapped its 10,000 brilliant young scholars to create engaging, short videos to supplement classroom instruction.
The National Science Foundation offers K-12 educators a variety of resources and funding for projects. Learn about NSF’s Discovery Research K-12 program, as well the recently released DR K-12 solicitation to support projects that develop and study resources, models and technologies for STEM education.
NASA is providing several new webinars for educators, which include hands-on activity demonstrations for specific grade levels. Additionally, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is offering an online course on climate research applications with funding from the NASA Innovations in Climate Education program. Applications for the course are due August 20, 2012.
