No funds for field trips? Take your students on a virtual tour of the best Museums of the World or check out scores of other engaging STEM education sites and teacher resources in the BestEdSites collection.

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Tags: Internet Resources, Mathematics, Museums, Resources for Teachers, Science museum, STEM education, Teacher Resources, Web Resources

The Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, Pa. seeks to inspire learning and curiosity by connecting science and technology with everyday life. By making science both relevant and fun, the Science Center’s goal is to increase science literacy in the region and to motivate young people to seek careers in science and technology.

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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Web Resources | Comment »

Tags: Children's Museum, Internet Resources, Museum, Museums, Science Center, Science museum, Teacher Resources, Web Resources

The Office of Naval Research provides several different outreach programs for students at different grade levels. The programs, which include competitions and afterschool engagement, range in size and mission.

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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Web Resources | Comment »

Tags: After School, American Society for Engineering Education, Building robots, Competition, Competitions for Students, Museums, Office of Naval Research (ONR), Outreach, Outreach for Schools, Resources for Teachers, Robotics Competitions, Summer Camps & Programs (Students), U.S. Navy, Underwater Robot, Web Resources

Look what turned up in the “nation’s attic.” The Smithsonian Institution has released 25 photos of scientists from the 1925 “monkey trial,” more formally known as the State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes. The scientists and science reporters were supporters of the defense of Scopers, who was convicted of violating a state law against teaching evolution to school children.

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Tags: History, Museums, Scientists, Scopes Trial, Smithsonian

In this activity, students will explore how sensing is part of robotics by tying their shoes with different constraints. After lacing their shoes normally, try it wearing thick gloves or with popsicle sticks taped to fingers so they can’t bend. Can students tie their shoes now? A connection is made to the limitations of the motion of robots, and to the role of design in allowing robots to perform different functions.

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Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comment »

Tags: Class Activities, Lesson Plan, Museums, Robotics, Science

The exhibition Before Pythagoras: The Culture of Old Babylonian Mathematics, being held at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World in New New York City through Dec. 17, 2010, presents an unprecedented grouping of tablets from the first golden age of mathematics, highlighting both classroom training and advanced curiosity-driven mathematics. Admission: Free.

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Tags: Mathematics, Museums

Help students connect to the past by having them view the Virtual Museum of Ancient Inventions, which displays helpful information on remarkable innovations from the distant past, such as the Aztec calendar wheels, the loom, the steam engine, the catapulut — and even eyeliner!

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Tags: Engineering in History, Ideas & Inventions, Museums

New York City’s Skyscraper Museum celebrates a rich architectural heritage and examines the historical forces and individuals that have shaped its successive skylines. Through exhibitions, programs and publications, the museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence. Cost: $5, $2.50 for students and seniors.

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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Web Resources | Comment »

Tags: Museums, Skyscrapers, Structural Engineering

Inspire the inventors, innovators, and designers in your class with a look at the Why Design Now exhibit at New York City’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum — online or in person. See what progressive designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and citizens are doing in diverse fields and at different scales around the world. Included are practical solutions, as well as experimental ideas. Each creation — from a soil-powered table lamp to a post-petroleum urban utopia — celebrates the transformative power of design.

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Tags: Cooper Hewitt Museum, Design, Museums, Smithsonian Institution