Jason McKenna is a passionate advocate for robotics and STEM education and the author of What STEM Can Do for Your Classroom. He has spent years helping educators understand how to leverage STEM to foster critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. 

Join the host of The STEM Class Podcast, Anthony Arno, as he talks with Jason about the following topics in STEM education.

• Importance of curiosity in STEM
• Adopting a universal STEM curriculum
• Importance of teaching STEM to our youngest students
• Teaching STEM with current events
• Are we prepping our students too soon about STEM careers?
• Glorious Failure
• Role of Failure (The First Penguin Award)
• Gallery walks with students and "stealing" good ideas
• What does it take to be a great STEM teacher?
• Knowledge versus Skill in the classroom
• Guided discovery learning in STEM
• Assessment in the STEM classroom
• Engineering Notebooks
• What can a teacher do tomorrow to promote a STEM mindset
• VEX Robotics 

WEBSITE: Jason McKenna

WEBSITE: VEX Robotics

 

In the world of STEM education, the Engineering Design Process (EDP) is always being discussed as an integral part of any worthwhile program.  What is the EDP and why are there so many variations of it?

Join the STEM Class Podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks with Kerry Tracy, founder of STEM CON and Beyond all about the EDP and how it compares to the scientific method.

Highlights from this episode include:

• A side by side comparason of both methods

 

Join The STEM Class Podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks with Ken Sheel, cretor of Keva Planks.  These wooden planks are a major part of every STEM classroom and the Makerspace movement.

• What are Keva Planks?
• Origin of Keva name
• Comparason to other building toys
• Applying Keva Planks across the curriculum with sample activities
• Building the Resilence Muscle and Failing Forward
• Blocks versus Planks design
• Ball Run Challenges
• Classroom Mangement
• World Record for tallest Keva Plank Tower
• Keva Museum Displays at regional science centers
• Display for Dreamworks Shrek Castle 
• What's next for Ken Scheel?

 

WEBSITE: Keva Planks

YOUTUBE: MUSEUM EXHIBIT

Join The STEM Class podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks with Emily Morgan, co-author of the Picture Perfect STEM series. The series published by the NSTA features a wide array of elementary STEM lessons supported by the most popular picture books in classroom.

Additional Topics Include:

• Most memorable teachers in school
• Early teaching career
• 7 Myths of STEM
• STEM or STEAM or STREAM?
• Variations of the Engineering Design Process
• The Power of Picture Books
• Partnering with Karen Ansberry to write a STEM book
• The 5E Model of teaching STEM: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, Evaluate
• Sample Books and Activities
  • Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin solved a mystery that baffled all of France
  • The Inventors Secret: What Thomas Edison told Henry Ford
  • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
• Lower and Upper Elementary level comparison
• What a new STEM teacher should focus on in the classroom
• Keeping track of time and calling the students back on task
• Essential supplies on a limited budget
• Popular Picture Perfect STEM activity requiring minimal materials
• Professional development for teachers
• Additional projects that Emily is working on

The talent portion of the Miss America pageant typically consists of contestants singing, dancing, or playing a musical instrument. All that changed when the most recent Miss America, Camille Schrier, carried out a STEM demonstration during her talent portion.

The STEM Class Podcast host Anthony Arno talks with Schrier about her lifelong passion for science and her decision to showcase a STEM activity as part of her talent portion, and the reaction from other contestants.

Additional topics covered include:

• Early educators who made a difference
• Teachers as role models
• Earliest interest in science
• Entry into first beauty pageant
• Decision to present a STEM activity over performing arts during talent portion
• Following a passion for science 
• Initial reaction from other contestants
• Most unusual talent segments through the years of Miss America
• The final seconds before the winner is announced
• Comparing Miss America journey to the scientific method
• Official platform as Miss America: Mind Your Meds
• How to encourage girls and minorities to consider STEM careers
• How the pandemic affected Miss America's reign
• Collaboration for 3M Science at Home series
• Cooking Up Science with Miss America (PBS 9 part mini-series)
• Most memorable story as Miss America while visiting schools
• Most memorable souvenir received as Miss America
• Passing the Miss America crown to the next recipient
• Does Miss America get to keep the actual crown?
• What other STEM demonstrations were being considered for pageant? 
• Final Minute before the Final Bell
  • Morning Person or Night Owl: Morning
  • Mac or PC: Mac
  • Favorite Childhood Book: Millions of Cats
  • First Paying Job: Parents Company
  • Favorite TV Show: News
  • Latest Music Download: Podcasts 
  • Unexpected Snow Day: Play with the dog in the snow
  • Next Item on Bucket List: Travel Internationally

Louisiana state Teacher of the Year Nathalie Roy has taught Latin for most of her career, but was recently asked how she could incorporate STEM into her middle school curriculum.  After her initial research, Nathalie discovered that the ancient Romans literally wrote the book on technology from use of catapults to advanced construction techniques.

Join The STEM Class podcast host Anthony Arno as he talks with Nathalie about the following:

• Story of an inspiring teacher (her own parents teaching Nathalie's high school classes)
• Transitioning from Latin to STEM teacher
• Popularity of Latin for middle schoolers
• Fulbright to Italy to study classical Roman archeology
• What can a STEM teacher learn from the Romans?
• Importance of Vitruvius in Roman history
• Analemmatic interactive sundials
• Teaching STEM during the pandemic
• What should new STEM teachers focus on?
• Importance of focusing on the Engineering Design Process
• Resistance from Latin teachers to teach STEM
• Announcing the Louisiana Teacher of the Year with a Mercedes Benz

• White House visit with President Biden
• Important message for educators from TOY
• Platform:  Trauma  Informed Resilient Schools
• Latest STEM Class: Myth Makers
• Most popular STEM challenges
• Recommended supplies for any STEM teacher

• An inspiring story from a former student
• Reflecting on the biggest mistake in her teaching career
• A Great Course Series: Ancient Greek & Roman Technology
• Nathalie's recommendations for STEM teachers
• Most exciting thing about being a STEM teacher today

Final Minute Before the Final Bell

Morning Person or Night Owl

• Morning

Mac or PC

• Niether: Chromebook

Favorite Childhood Book

• A Wrinkle in Time

First Paying Job

• Selling popcorn at grandfather's movie theater

Favorite TV Show

• Project Runway - Best maker show ever!

Latest Music Download 

• The Disappearing Spoon Podcast

One Famous Person You Would Invite for Dinner

• Stephen Sedaris or Dr. Stephen Ressler

What would you do during an unexpected snow day?

• Build a snowman

Next item on your bucket list?

• Trip to UK to see Roman archeological sites

 

Fact or Fiction? A fully loaded Kindle weighs the same as a brand new, factory sealed Kindle without any books on it?  Hear the truth on the podcast episode!

 

Email: [email protected] 

WEBSITE: Creative Classics

Video: Launching catapults during the pandemic

Twitter: Nathalie Roy

A Great Course Series: Greek & Roman Technology

WEBSITE: Engineering with Paper 

Quote: Acta Non Verba (Deeds, not words)

Podcast: Peopling in the Past (Ancient Culture and People Who Study them)

Biosphere 2 was originally meant to demonstrate the viability of closed ecological systems to support and maintain human life in outer space.  Its mission was a two-year closure experiment with a crew of eight humans.

Join host Anthony Arno, as he speaks with Deputy Director of Biosphere 2 John Adams about:

• Earliest memory of a teacher in school
• Academic background
• Is there a Biosphere I
• Biosphere II
  • Size comparison
  • Funding
  • Biomes included
  • Filling the ocean biome with sea water
  • Easiest and Hardest biomes to maintain
• The Biosphere Lung Engineering Marvel
• Biosphere Challenges
  • A failed experiment?
  • Mental and Physical limitations
• Selection process for Biospherians
  • Where are the biospherians today?
• Additional Biosphere missions
• LEO (Landscape Evolutionary Observatory) research project
• Educational programs for students in Grades K – 12
• Biosphere accommodations for overnighters
• Professional Development for Educators
• Columbia University involvement with Biosphere 2
• Feedback from locals on Biosphere 2

 

Dr. Frances Carter is a real life Rosie the Riveter. In 1941, when Pearl Harbor was attached, Carter left her studies to become a teacher to work in a Birmingham B-29 refurbishing factory. Join The STEM Class Podcast host Anthony Arno, as he talks with Carter about not only her life as a Rosie the Riveter, but as an educator as well.

Highlights from the show include:

• Growing up during the Depression
• Remembering December 7, 1941
• Job responsibilities as a Rosie the Riveter
• Wearing pants and lipstick to work as a woman
• Opening up the STEM door for women in the workplace
• Meeting her husband, John Carter
• John proposes to Fran while serving in the US Army in France
• The American Rosie the Riveter Club
• Annual American Rosie the Riveter Conference
• Famous Rosie the Riveter posters
• What todays generation can learn from the WW II generation
• Good advice for teachers today
• Celebrity status as a Rosie the Riveter

Website: American Rosie the Riveter Association

 

At the age of 15 as a Navajo Native American, Peter MacDonald enlisted in the US Marines simply because he admired the official uniform.  Shortly after boot camp, he was recruited into a secret military program that would rely on a language that has no written form for what would later be known as a Navajo Code Talker.

The code talkers were pivotal during the Battle of Iwo Jima, a 6week intense battle that resulted in 25,000 casualties on both sides.    From a group of 450 Navajo Native Americans, MacDonald is only one of five surviving Navajo Code Talkers and he shares his life experience with The Route 66 Podcast.  After the war, MacDonald was sworn to a code of secrecy for the next 23 years while working as a Project Engineer for Howard Hughes on The Polaris Missile Project.  MacDonald also served as a Chairman of the Navajo Nation for four terms.

In addition to MacDonald, Route 66 realtor Jacque Kellogg talks about her initial reaction when a local motel owner in Flagstaff reluctantly decides to list the El Reno Motel on the market.  Unknown to her, Kellogg later learns that the motel has a historic place in history regarding the Navajo code talkers and the motel was later taken off the market.

Episode Highlights

• Flagstaff realtor Jacque Kellogg talks about the El Reno Motel and role in recruiting Navajo code talkers
• Peter MacDonald’s earliest memory of Route 66
• Enlisting at the age of 15 into the US Marines
• The Native American art of storytelling
• Understanding a language with no written word
• The turning point on Iwo Jima
• A 23 year code of silence after returning home
• A recent visit to the White House
• An impressive career as a missile defense specialist with Howard Hughes
• Hopes of establishing a national Navajo code talkers museum
• What everyone should know about Navajo code talkers
• Today’s biggest challenges for the Navajo Nation

Route 66 Patreon Program The Route 66 Podcast has launched a Patreon campaign, where you can pledge a monthly donation to help support both the podcast and 2021 Scholarship Program.  The Route 66 Scholarship Program not only includes awards for students in grades K – 12, but will include a 2021 college level award.  More information about the Patreon program, including monthly prizes for supporters can be found here.

Kobie Boykins, is the NASA Project Engineer for the solar panels on all of the Mars Rovers- Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and the newest project- Perseverance.  

Boykins talks all about his most memorable teachers growing up, how he approaches playing with LEGO's and other toys with his young children, and NASA rovers that have jammed up at 150 million miles from earth and what was learned from that experience.

 

The STEM Class Podcast  is the show where teachers looking to incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics into their classrooms can hear the latest ideas taking place by people just like you.  

Whether you're teaching a specialized STEM class or you just want to sprinkle a bit of STEM into your everyday lessons, this is the place for all things STEM.  

You’ll not only hear from STEM teachers, but also popular authors, and leaders in the STEM field to discuss best practices for incorporating STEM into your everyday teaching routine. 

Be sure to catch both current and past episodes at TheSTEMClass.com.