Looking for tips on how to arrange your classroom to facilitate hands-on learning? How about lessons that combine engineering, technology, and earth sciences, or develop systems thinking in your students?

Teachers TryScience, a website for K-12 educators created by the New York Hall of Science, the University of Colorado, Boulder’s TeachEngineering, and IBM, provides free, engaging lessons, teaching strategies and tutorials, how-to videos, and other resources designed to spark students’ interest in STEM.  The site – which has a Spanish version as well as some offerings in Vietnamese – also features collaboration tools that let teachers discuss and share effective instructional practices.

The collection ranges from short how-to videos, such as re-arranging desks to facilitate active learning, to tutorials in creating STEM lesson plans. Many of the units – which are searchable by subject, grade, and time needed to complete them – include videos of teachers conducting and reflecting on the lesson or activity. For example, in one earth sciences unit, a teacher explains how she developed a backyard ecosystem lesson for middle school students using Project Noah that incorporated smartphones and other engaging technologies.

Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Web Resources

Tags: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans, New York Hall of Science, Resources for Teachers, STEM teaching, STEM videos, teachengineering, tutorials, Web Resources