Welcome to another post that is dedicated to highlighting an amazing site providing an awesome collection of resources to educators. The site entitled “MIT BLOSSOMS” is so much more then science and math. It provides a total STEM emphasis by covering the science disciplines along with mathematics/statistics, engineering, technology, health/medicine, and career. Before reading… be sure to sign up for upcoming Siemens STEM Academy blog posts in order to discover other great STEM resources. Don’t miss out… make sure you give us a follow on twitter at mjgormans. Thanks for joining us at the Siemens STEM Academy and enjoy the post! – Mike Gorman (21centuryedtech)
The people at MIT constantly are bring some amazing resources to STEM based classrooms across the world. The one that I bring to you today will have you exploring unique and engaging methods to include and explore STEM in relevant and meaningful ways. It will give you the opportunity to relate to your students avenues in which the STEM Disciplines really do integrate into their every day world. Lets take a look!
MIT BLOSSOMS – Explore a program that will allow your classroom to bloom and show the beauty and color of the STEM world. BLOSSOMS video lessons have the ability to enrich students’ learning experiences in the high school classroom and in some cases even the middle school. This incredible Video Library contains over 50 math and science lessons, all freely available to teachers as streaming video, Internet downloads, DVDs and videotapes. You will find that the lessons really are a complete resource including video segments, a teacher’s guide, downloadable hand-outs, plus a list of incredible online resources relevant to the topic. BLOSSOMS are based on fifty minute lessons that builds on math and science fundamentals. Each lesson relates abstract concepts to the real world that your students live, work, and play in. These lessons employ video instruction with engaging exercises that promote problem solving and critical thinking. The BLOSSOMS Lessons promote STEM success by assisting students to really understand and apply through hands-on experience while fostering a sense of accomplishment, achievement and excitement.
The BLOSSOM method allows each classroom teacher to teach with an amazing guest teacher. These learning activities do not replace the current curriculum, but rather enhance it. Students view video in brief segments, allowing the in-class teacher between segments to engage the class in an active, goal-oriented exercise. In the lessons the following methods are employed.
- No video segment lasts longer than about 5 minutes.
- In between segments, the in-class teacher guides or facilitate the students through an active learning exercise building from the video segment’s guest lecture.
- After each active learning exercise, another video segment is shown.
- This process continues until the lesson is completed, usually lasting a full class session.
You may wish to see one of the MIT BLOSSOMS videos used in a classroom. Take a moment and watch a Statistics class demonstration made available at the BLOSSOM Website. After reading this, you will want to take a tour of MIT BLOSSOMS amazing video collection. Look at titles such as:
- MATHEMATICS: Why Beehive Honeycombs Have a Hexagonal Shape
- CHEMISTRY: Is There a Connection between Water Desalination and Making Pickles?
- PHYSICS: The Physics of Racing Cars
- BIOLOGY: Using DNA to Identify People
- MATHEMATICS: Why Beehive Honeycombs Have a Hexagonal Shape
- ENGINEERING: Using Geometry to Design Simple Machines
You can also search by topic or standards. While you are visiting the site you may wish to discover the topics that will soon be included in the collection. You may even wish to order a DVD or video tape lesson and be sure to sign up for the MIT STEM Newsletter. Read all about the BLOSSOM effort and think about incorporating a lesson in your classroom. Note that some videos are in a foreign language… MIT is looking for translation assistance on some of these. Perhaps you could help. Overall… you will enjoy watching your STEM curriculum BLOSSOM.
Well, there you have it… another STEM related digital resource. Please continue to join the Siemens STEM Academy as we continue to discuss other ways you can promote STEM and 21st century technology and learning in the classroom. Don’t miss out on future posts and resources dedicated to STEM education. Now is a great time to sign up for an RSS feed and also follow me on twitter at mjgormans. You may even wish to share this post with others via a quick email or even a tweet! Have a STEMtastic week and may it BLOSSOM into full color! – Mike Gorman 21centuryedtech
21 st Century Educational Technology and Learning 