Student Resources
- Four year plan
- For organizing college/university classes, credits, grades, transfer credits, etc: click here for a template
- Four year plan example: click here
- World Food Prize Foundation: Michigan Youth Institute
- The Michigan Youth Institute is a life-changing experience coordinated by Michigan State University where high school students engage with local leaders and experts on critical global challenges, participate in hands-on activities, and explore exciting ways to make a difference in Michigan and around the world. Students research issues they care about and propose their ideas to solve these grand challenges.
- Students who participate in the Michigan Youth Institute earn recognition as a Borlaug Scholar and qualify for internships and further opportunities.
- Register and submit requirements here at this link: How to participate
- Link to YoutTube channel: WorldFoodPrizeFoundation
- Volunteer opportunities: click here
iNaturalist Activity
- iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. If you want to learn more, click here: iNaturalist
- STEM-FEE iNaturalist Activity: click here
- Another resource developed by iNaturalist is Seek, a free, child-safe made to help people discover the natural world by identifying plants and animals, while earning badges along the way! Learn more about Seek and monthly National Geographic challenges here.
Resources for Teachers
- National Agriculture in the Classroom: includes curriculum, eLearning, state/territory programs, and agricultural knowledge.
- Click here to go to the Teacher Center
- Learn about Agriculture: The California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating youth throughout California about the importance of agriculture in their daily lives.
- They provide resources such as lesson plans, fact sheets, and other activities for teacher to use for free. Click to go to the Teaching Resources.
- STEM For All Foundation: a nonprofit organization committed to improving educational outcomes, and college readiness in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for all students.
- What they do: robotics, coding, engineering design, SPI STEM club, and more.
- Website provides many resources such as workshops, programs, and conferences.
- Click to go to the main page.
- ‘STEM for ALL’ – Dr. Maggie Aderin Pocock – WISE 2013 Focus
- Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock started her journey in Science Communication from the standpoint of wanting to encourage more youth (especially girls) to consider jobs in STEM.
- Over the years her emphasis on youth has changed to include a much more general audience for three reasons. First, the older generation still has great influence over young people and, if you captivate the parents, the children will often follow. Second, STEM is very much part of our lives. To use it to its true potential, it is vital to understand its scope and limitations. Lastly, STEM practitioners need to be guided ethically and responsibly by the public, but to do this effectively society needs to be STEM literate.
- Watch the talk here: STEM for All
- Soil 4 Kids and Teachers – Dig Deeper: Soil Science Society of America: The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a progressive international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils.
- Soil 4 Kids is an interactive website that teaches students all about soil, provides soil experiments, games, career exploration, and resources to learn more about soil in your community.
- Soil 4 Teachers is a website full of soil science resources such as soil by subjects, soil and people, lessons and activities, and more.
- Visit the Soil 4 Kids website here, or the Soil 4 Teachers website here to see all the valuable resources!
- AAAS/SUBARU PRIZE FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE BOOKS: Honors the best in science books for children and young adults and features informative Stem Talks on their page.
- Click here to view and watch the many different STEMTalks on a variety of topics!
Websites to Follow
eBird: The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Discover a new world of birding with eBird! Created by the Cornell Lab or Ornithology, eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers, and amateur naturalists with real time data about bird distributions and abundance. Discover more here: eBird.org
Citizen Science
CitizenScience.gov is an official government website designed to accelerate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science across the U.S. government. The site provides a portal to three key components: a catalog of federally supported citizen science projects, a toolkit to assist federal practitioners with designing and maintaining their projects, and a gateway to a community of hundreds of citizen science practitioners and coordinators across government as called for in the Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2016 (15 USC 3724). You can learn more about the activities of the Federal Community of Practice on Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science in this two-page overview document.
CoCoRaHS
CoCoRaHS is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities. By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, their aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. For more information, click here: Information about CoCoRaHS
Caterpillars Count!
Caterpillars Count! is a citizen science project for measuring the seasonal variation, also known as phenology, and abundance of arthropods like caterpillars, beetles, and spiders found on the foliage of trees and shrubs. Participants collect data by conducting surveys on trees and shrubs and recording all of the arthropods observed. Click to learn about your next steps on how to get involved!
Pollinators in National Parks
More than 75 percent of the Earth’s flowering plants depend on bees, butterflies, birds, bats, and other pollinators. Yet scientists have noted that these hardworking insects and other animals are in trouble. Learn more about pollinators, why they are important, and how we can help them. Our own well-being and the welfare of our planet rests upon their wings. Click to view more information: NPS Pollinators
USDA Plants Database
Plant List of Accepted Nomenclature, Taxonomy, and Symbols.
The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.
Click here to learn more: USDA Plants Database
Plant Sleuth – Plant ID YouTube Channel
Learn how to identify and care for plants with Dr. Andy Pulte of the University of Tennessee, where he take you through steps to identify a diversity of plants.
Visit the YouTube channel here: Plant Sleuth
Cornell University: Woody Plants Database
Learn how to identify and care for plants with Dr. Andy Pulte of the University of Tennessee, where he take you through steps to identify a diversity of plants.
Visit the YouTube channel here: Plant Sleuth
EJScreen: Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool
In order to better meet the Agency’s responsibilities related to the protection of public health and the environment, EPA has developed a new environmental justice (EJ) mapping and screening tool called EJScreen. It is based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports.
Click here to learn more: EJScreen
Surging Seas: Risk Finder
Climate Central’s Surging Seas Risk Finder aims to provide citizens, communities and policymakers with easily accessible, science-based, local information to help you understand and respond to the risks of sea level rise and coastal flooding.
The interactive toolkit includes maps, local sea level and flood risk projections, and potential impacts for population, land, and, depending upon location, other variables. It analyzes and compares risks among different administrative units as a way to identify hot spots of concern.
Click here to learn more: Surging Seas Risk Finder
World Population Clock
View the world’s growing population in real time. Population counts of the United States and each country can be viewed, as well as population estimates.
Click here to learn more: Population Clock
