STEM & CS Resources

On request, we offer training & support in a variety of tools & resources for CS: 

K-12 Curriculum Writing for Computer Science including: 

Computational Thinking Strategies  and Integration

Exploring the K-12 CS Framework

CSTA Standards Support 

Exploration of CS Robotics, Curriculums, and Tools including:

Sphero Bolt, Hummingbird Bit, Micro:Bit, Tello Drones, MakeCode, Botley, BeeBot, UnRuly Splats, Ozobots, and others! 

CSFirst, Code.org, and others! 

Looking for student opportunities in CS? 

• Media and Design Competition

• Governor's STEM

STEM Challenge and Activity Resources: 

• LIU12's STEM-a-Day Collection - Developed during the 2019 pandemic, this collection of 54 different activities can help support STEM in a variety of classrooms.

• Instructables for Teachers - Inspiration for a variety of hands-on projects and challenges for your classroom.

• Left Brain - Craft Brain - 28 Days of STEM Activities for Kids 

• Lego Challenge Cards - Download at the bottom of the page

• STEM Activities and Challenges from Science Buddies - STEM activities for kids

• Faraday Challenge - National-wide STEM challenge run by the Institution of Engineering and Technology 

• Angus Primary Science - A multitude of STEM challenges and activites for primary school students

STEM Lessons and Best Practices Resources:

• STEM Teaching Tools - These very short pieces highlight ways of working on specific issues that come up during STEM teaching. They cover topics such as assessment, practices, culture, engineering, and implementation

• Defined Learning - Part of the LIU12 IMS Subscription, Defined learning offers student-centered project based learning resources which guide students and teachers through a variety of performance tasks based in STEM.

• Discovery Education - Part of the LIU12 IMS Subscription, Discovery Education offers a variety of STEM resources. This includes the add-on of STEM Connect, but also several other resources which they list here - many free and public facing.

  • BBC Teach - STEM Resources - A collection of the best STEM resources from across the BBC to use with Primary pupils.

  • STEM Collaborative - Interactive online adventures designed to support math learning. 

  • STEM Teaching Tools - Tools aimed at addressing common questions and concerns in STEM education. 

  • Five Structures for Helping Students Learn Project Management - by John Spencer

• Teach Engineering - Provides a design engineering process framework along with curriculum resources and strategies for STEM integration and NGSS alignment. 

• Engineering by Design - Offers a STEM curriculum aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and is free to PA Educators (in 2020-2021 School Year). You can follow these directions to access these materials. You can also view this tutorial which will walk you through how to access them too.

• Engineering is Elementary - Also offers a STEM curriculum for multiple grade levels which can be purchased.

• Royal Academy of Engineering - STEM Learning Resources - Resources to enrich the STEM curriculum.

• Novel Engineering - Engineering challenges that are aimed at helping literary characters.

• Right Question Institute - Resources and strategies for helping students ask more and better questions

• Research Plan Template - created by Science Buddies

• Brainstorming Handout - created by Teach Engineering

• Design Notebook Templates and Ideas - 

  1. Tacoma/South Puget Sound MESA, WA

  2. Oregon Middle School

  3. Purdue Online Writing Lab

  4. The Engineering Design Log 

• d.School - Stanford developed resources for design thinking. 

• IDEO - Design thinking resources, global challenges, and teaching strategies.

• LAUNCH Cycle - John Spencer's adaptation of the design thinking process for K-12 classrooms. 

• Empathy Mapping - A tool for collecting information during an empathy interview.

• Empathy Interview - A guide for conducting empathy interviews.

• Empathy Techniques for Pursuing Educational Equity - examines the ways in which empathy is connected to equity work. 

• Design Thinking Bootleg - A shortened guide to the d.School Design Thinking Process. 

• How to Use Sticky Notes for Project Brainstorming - Specific strategies and frameworks to make the most of sticky note brainstorming. 

ISTE Standards for Students - The create strand draws on the Knowledge Constructor, Creative Communicator, and Global Collaborator standards.

Divergent Thinking Exercises - Specific strategies to encourage students to think creatively. 

UDL - UDL provides a framework for ensuring students have multiple pathways to success in any creative assignment or project.

"Helping Every Student Become an Artist" - How UDL can help lower barriers to build student agency in the visual arts. 

Everyone Can Create - Apple curriculum for creativity in the classroom using Apple apps. 

Adobe Creative Educator - PD aimed at training educators to harness creativity in the classroom for themselves and students. 

Global Oneness Project - Storytelling and curriculum focused on educating students about global issues and promoting empathy with people around the globe. 

Teach SDGs - United Nations resource for teaching topics related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

Creativity Competency Survey - Based on Generative Theory, this survey offers some ideas and insight into your creative strengths. 

CS Frameworks & Standards: 

• K-12 CS Framework - Provides a framework for teaching CS comprised of 7 key practices and grade band aligned concepts. 

• CSTA Standards - Specific standards are aligned to grade band concepts and practices. 

• ISTE Computational Thinking Competencies - Standards aimed at helping educators to address CT skills in K-12 classrooms and aligned with the ISTE educator standard themes (learner, leader, collaborator, designer, facilitator).

Computer Science Tools & Platforms:

• Code.org - Free K-12 platform and curriculum

• CSFirst - Google Cross-Curricular CS Platform for Elementary-Middle 

• Swift Playgrounds - Apple Coding platform and curriculum

• Scratch - Contains a multitude of tutorials and projects that practice block based coding skills

• CMU CS Academy - Coding platform and curriculum developed by Carnegie Mellon

• PATTAN CS Teacher Toolkit - Resources for ensuring the creation of equitable CS integration

Computer Science Lessons & Resources: 

• CS Unplugged - Tech-less lessons and activities aimed at teaching students the fundamental principles of computer science

• Bootstrap World - Combines video game coding and mathematics instruction

• CT Teacher Resources from ISTE - Strategies and ideas for incorporating CT learning experiences into any content area classroom