STEM Resources

Ellipsis Education computer science curriculum is grade-level differentiated, aligns with all state and national computer science standards, and is continually updated to reflect changes in computer science. Since computer science is more than just coding, Ellipsis Education courses include coding, unplugged, digital citizenship, and STEM career lessons as well as hardware integrations.

Teachers across the country teach subjects or content related to STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. However, the truth is, STEM is more than just those four subjects. STEM learning involves using innovation and creativity to solve problems and make connections to the real world. Believe it or not, STEM learning can even happen across many different subjects, not just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. STEM is all around us, and the skills developed from STEM education are essential to K12 students as they go through life in the 21st century and as they go on to pursue careers. The importance of STEM education in elementary schools through high schools cannot go understated.

The U.S. Department of Education states, “If we want a nation where our future leaders, neighbors, and workers can understand and solve some of the complex challenges of today and tomorrow, and to meet the demands of the dynamic and evolving workforce, building students’ skills, content knowledge, and literacy in STEM fields is essential.” It is the Department of Education’s vision to provide all students with high-quality STEM education, regardless of a student’s background.

We want to support you in implementing STEM instruction in your classroom, so we put together this page of free resources that you can use to begin the implementation of  STEM learning in your K-12 classrooms. Keep reading to learn more about professional development, our My STEM Career podcast, free lessons, stem activities for students, and educational articles – all available to you for free. We hope these resources help you in fostering STEM learning. You are helping to shape the future as you inspire every student through STEM!

We understand that teaching STEM is a big task and that takes a lot of preparation and planning. That’s why we offer some of the best STEM resources for teachers. Ellipsis Education offers free professional development webinars, free My STEM Career interviews, and free lesson plans. In this section, we highlight our free professional development sessions and our My STEM Career podcast. Then, keep reading to get the opportunity to download our free lessons.

STEM TEACHING AND LEARNING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Whether you have never taught STEM before or you’re a veteran STEM teacher, our professional development webinars will help you expand your skills and STEM teaching methods in the classroom. Each webinar is available on-demand so that you can watch them any place, any time. Additionally, each webinar includes a certificate of completion. Here are some of our webinars:

• Connecting the 4 Cs and Computer Science: In this session, The Sea of Cs: Connecting the 4 Cs and Computer Science, you will walk away with a better understanding of the four Cs and strategies on how you can use computer science to reinforce each skill.

• Advancing ELLs in Computer Science: The Ellipsis Education team summarizes the latest WIDA guidance that explains “Teacher Moves” and “Student Moves” that will allow your multilingual learners access to the rigorous content and crucial skill practice that promote students’ success.

• Block and Text-Based Programming: In this session, you’ll explore block and text-based coding, their similarities and differences, and the various benefits and drawbacks of each programming environment. Additionally, learn about how you can help ease your learners’ transition from block to text-based languages.

Click here to explore more of our professional development webinars.

MY STEM CAREER

How can STEM education shape the future? In our podcast, we introduce you to STEM careers and the ways computer science knowledge can help regardless of each students ’path. We speak with industry experts who share information about their careers, describe their professional experiences, and offer advice to students. Each podcast interview matches a particular STEM Career lesson featured in Ellipsis Education curriculum. Listen to the top of the show for grade-appropriate questions that match the lesson, and stay tuned for the second half when we dive into an all-age appropriate journey of each interviewee’s life, career, and advice. Listen to My STEM Career on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or find the episodes on our website here. Below, we highlight some of our episodes to give you a glimpse into various STEM careers highlighted in the podcast.

• Wildlife Conservationist: Hang around with an ecologist that specializes in bats! Explore a career as a Wildlife Conservationist with Ryan Slack of Civil & Environmental Consultants (CEC). Ryan works with construction teams to make sure that species of endangered bats are staying safe during a build.

• Data Analyst: Gather around the campfire (or board room), and learn how storytelling and data analysis converge. Explore a career as a Data Analyst with Theesh Mohan of Meta. Theesh walks us through the process of analyzing data, finding trends, and condensing 10 weeks of work into an hour long meeting.

• Doctor: Prepare for an operation with a pediatric surgeon! Explore a career as a Doctor with Dr. Evan Kokoska of Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. As a surgeon who specializes in care for kids, Dr. Kokoska ensures that children under 18 get the procedures they need to feel better.

• Entrepreneur: Discover the world’s first long hot water bottle! Explore a career as an Entrepreneur with Richard Yu of YUYU Bottle. Richard not only created a brand new product but also built a company that is now featured in luxury hotels, spas, and even the British royal family. Check out the interview below.

We are continuously interviewing STEM professionals, so don’t forget to check back for new episodes!

Many of the lessons in Ellipsis Education curriculum include Scratch Jr or Scratch, but did you know that students can explore the interactive STEM websites on their own for free? Scratch Jr and Scratch are one of the best STEM learning resources for students. They were designed to teach students how to code using block-based programming. The sites are available both online and offline, and they are available in over 70 languages. By visiting the website, students can choose from a variety of projects to work on, or they can create their own.

The Scratch team creates and compiles many STEM education resources for teachers. Creating a Teacher Account is a helpful tool for increasing classroom organization. Teacher Accounts make it easier to create individual profiles for your students, share files, and monitor activity in the Scratch Community. Another amazing resource is called Scratch in Practice, or SiP. SiP is a base for global educators to share ideas for curriculum, peer learning, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. This resource includes many Scratch lesson plans for beginners and veterans alike. Finally, Scratch Week is a global celebration of Scratch users that usually takes place in May. The Scratch team releases new free lessons for educators and promotes especially creative projects on their social media accounts.

While there are many individual Scratch lessons available that students love to explore, these lessons rarely connect to form a high-quality curriculum. That is why Ellipsis Education offers grade-level differentiated full courses that utilize Scratch for each of the following grade levels:

• Computer Science Foundations Kindergarten

• Computer Science Foundations 1

• Computer Science Foundations 2

• Computer Science Fundamentals 3

• Computer Science Fundamentals 4

• Computer Science Fundamentals 5

• We also offer a Scratch course for middle schoolers with no prior coding experience. Schedule a 30-minute call with one of our curriculum experts to learn more.

It’s no secret that teachers do everything they can to provide meaningful learning experiences for their students. These efforts do not stop at STEM and computer science education. While some educators may be teaching computer science for the first time, others may have been computer science experts for years. No matter where you fall on that spectrum, your efforts do not go unnoticed by the Ellipsis Education team. Below, we handpicked five articles to help you learn more about STEM and computer science in the classroom.

• The Engineering Design Process: Learn about the five steps of the engineering design process, its importance for students and in life, and explore examples and activities of the process.

• Direct Instruction and Inquiry-Based Learning: Define direct instruction and inquiry-based learning, and explore standards-driven methods for incorporating both teaching methods into your computer science lessons. Additionally, explore peer-reviewed research on each method of teaching.

• Interdisciplinary Connections: Science: Discover ways to incorporate computer science into other domains of science in the classroom. Integrate multiple science areas to engage students in STEM learning.

• Project-Based Learning: Framework and Examples: Explore the definition of PBL and why it is important, along with teacher and student-focused frameworks to help you hone your practices in the classroom. In addition, download free lessons for use in your classroom.

• Exploring the 4 Cs of 21st Century Learning: Learn about the four Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) and how educators can help create future-ready learners – students who are ready to apply their knowledge in any new situation. We explore the four Cs, why they are important, and how Ellipsis Education curriculum reinforces each skill.

We hope these articles help you in your classroom.  Check out all of our articles on our site here.

There are many STEM websites for students to help you teach STEM in your classroom. In this section, explore an overview of a few technology websites for students we found for you to give you more STEM lesson ideas.

• View NASA education resources on the NASA education website. Here you can find a variety of NASA STEM activities for all grade levels, including a Mars rover game or space STEM activities for elementary students.

• On the Concord Consortium STEM resource finder, discover science activities for your classroom. You can search the Concord STEM site by science domain or by grade level to find the lesson you need.

• Sign up for a free Mystery Doug account to view weekly five-minute videos answering a STEM-related question, such as “Can a turtle live outside its shell?” or “How is a rainbow made?” These are perfect brain breaks for your classroom to keep the STEM learning going!

• Download a PDF of the STEM teaching tools 41 to have a guide of prompts you can use to expand student understanding of science. The prompts are open-ended questions that will ignite deeper thinking about a science concept.

• On the STEM-Works website, find articles and activities that will help bring STEM to life for your students. The resources are organized by subject matter, such as “Extreme Weather” or “Space.”

With all of the free resources available to you on this page, you are now equipped with a teacher toolbox full of ideas and materials to teach STEM to your students.