STEM Resources for Online Learning

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NGCP curated this listing of high-quality STEM resources for online learning to help you serve your programs and communities. While some resources are targeted at boys or all youth, they have a clear focus on serving or attracting girls and methodology based on promising practices for educating girls in STEM disciplines.

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis "At Home"
A wide variety of digital programming that includes multiple events each day on Facebook Live. Get exercising with a morning warmup, join science discussions, learn about experiments that can be done at home or attend a live story time.

City Museum on Air
The City Museum on Air series takes place each weekday with an eclectic lineup of programming—everything from free art classes, storytelling sessions, museum tours and sneak peaks at upcoming exhibits.

The Magic House (Magic at Home!)
The Magic House in St. Louis are sharing their expertise through their Magic at Home series. Each edition features a project that kids and their parents can do with household materials, like making a banjo or animal figures from toilet paper rolls, Oobleck (a favorite ooey gooey substance from the museum’s science lab) from cornstarch and water, or paper sculptures.

Kohl Children's Museum
A library of online teaching resources, story time sessions (in Spanish and English) and "Home Zone" projects. Kids can learn how to fold paper airplanes, learn about the physics of wheels or make their own recycled paper.

Museum of Discovery
The Museum of Discovery is bringing At Home Discoveries to computer screens across the country. Virtual visitors can learn what happens when you microwave a Peep (and why), how to make geodes out of eggs and the best techniques for building a cardboard castle. Visitors can also follow along as some of the museum’s animals take tours of the closed campus.

Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
Among the many Museum at Home projects from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is the New Ways to Say "Hi" Challenge, which tasks kids with coming up with new and creative ways to greet each other during times of social distancing. Other lessons include how to make yarn from an old T-shirt, net making and folding origami hearts.

Children's Museum of Denver
Museum Fun 101 programming which includes a host of screen-free activities to do at home. Options range from crafts (animal masks, printmaking) to recipes (cucumber lemonade, homemade peanut butter) to movement activities to photo quests and scavenger hunts.

The Strong Museum
This museum’s online programming comes at it from a unique angle, highlighting #ThrowbackToys from generations past; kids can make their own paper dolls, learn about why some toys weren’t such a hit (e.g. the Daddy Saddle) or vote in an old school toys tournament bracket (Easy Bake Oven for the win). The museum is also offering Animal Encounters through Facebook Live.

Madison Children's Museum
MCM at Home brings all the wonder of the Madison Children’s Museum into the living room, with a special focus on learning tools for older babies through preschool-aged children. There’s something scheduled almost every day on Facebook Live, including sensory art projects, Exploration Stations, Brain Builders, music and movement activities.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Audience: All ages
People around the world contribute bird observations to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology each year, gathering data on a scale once unimaginable. Scientists use these data to reveal how birds are affected by habitat loss, pollution, disease, climate, and other environmental changes. If you enjoy watching birds, contribute your passion to help science and conservation, whether by watching birds at your feeders, monitoring nests, or sharing your sightings any time, anywhere.

LandTalk
Audience: Grades 3-12, educators

LandTalk is a citizen science and environmental history project that documents, through interviews, how local landscapes change over time. It provides an opportunity for conversations between generations, and a chance to learn from observers about changes they have seen. Students get involved by interviewing a family member and adding their conversation to a map.

Science Action Club @ Home
Audience: Grades 5-8, afterschool and summer program staff
The California Academy of Sciences remains deeply committed to serving out-of-school time partners. Their Science Action Club (SAC) has educational tools and resources to help inspire and delight learners of all ages. Help youth stay connected to nature and each other using SAC activities. All you’ll need is a mobile device, internet access, and a desire to make discoveries.

SciStarter
Audience: Ages 6 and up
SciStarter is the place to find, join, and contribute to science through providing people access to searchable formal and informal research projects and events. Advanced filters allow users to search by grade levels. Includes additional resources for educators.

Zooniverse
Audience: All ages
Zooniverse is a citizen science web portal managed by the Citizen Science Alliance. Resources for educators includes project guides for students and educators, presentations are designed to introduce students to a particular project, and lessons developed to connect students to projects and research within the context of things they already know..

Code Break
Audience: Ages 6 and up
A global, live-interactive classroom, where the Code.org team and founder will teach students of all ages, with and without computers. Code Break offers a weekly dose of education, community, and computer science, and has brought together students from as far as Africa, China, India, and South America.

Code Studio
Audience: K-12 youth
Code Studio is home to online courses created by Code.org. Users learn basic computer science with a suite of classroom-ready courses for different ages (K-12). Lessons blend game-like tutorials with unplugged classroom activities, and short video lectures.

Code Your Hero
Audience: Ages 8 and up
The CS First team at Google created this activity where students can use their imagination to turn a real-life hero into a superhero using code. Code Your Hero is an activity that honors the everyday heroes in students' lives who use their powers to better their communities. Students will use Scratch, a block-based coding language, to animate and bring a story or game to life with movement and dialogue. Available in both English and Spanish.

Computational Fairy Tales
Audience: All ages
Computational Fairy Tales is a collection of stories to introduce computer science concepts. The goal of each story is to provide an overview and illustration of a single computer science concept before presenting full technical details. The stories cover a range of topics, including: data structures, algorithms, introductory programming, and practical programming tips.

Connected Camps
Audience: Ages 8 and up
Connected Camps is a not-for-profit organization providing connected learning experiences that foster creativity, problem solving, collaboration and interest-driven learning. Kids learn together online in live, hands-on, interactive programs run by expert online mentors. Kids can design, create, play, and code together in a small group setting, leading to fun and friendships.

CS Unplugged
Audience: Ages 8-10, educators
CS Unplugged is a collection of free learning activities that teach computer science through engaging games and puzzles. The activities introduce students to computational thinking through concepts such as binary numbers, algorithms and data compression, separated from the distractions and technical details of having to use computers.

Girls Who Code at Home
Audience: Ages 8 and up
Girls Who Code is making CS educational activities available for download free of charge. They will release activities weekly. Each activity will include a feature of a women in tech who pioneered innovative technology.

Hour of Code
Audience: All ages
Hour of Code is an introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator. The tutorials work on PCs, smartphones, tablets, and some require no computer at all. Tutorials stay up year-round and are available in over 45 languages. Ages 4 and up. No experience needed. Tutorials are all designed to be used with or without sound. All the videos have captions.

Lightbot
Audience: All ages
Lightbot is an educational game for kids that introduces several principles of programming and uses problem solving skills to complete puzzles. Children will practice concepts like sequence, conditions, and loops without typing or coding. Website includes educator resources.

Quorum Accessible Hour of Code
Audience: Ages 8 and up
For students who use a screen reader, the Quorum tutorial for beginners or the Quorum tutorial for comfortable students is a great place to start. Quorum began as an interpreted language designed to be accessible to screen reader users. Now it is a general-purpose programming language designed for any user.

Techgirlz
Audience: Students (grades 6-8), parents, educators
TechShopz are free, hands-on technology workshops for middle school girls. There are 50 topics to choose including coding, movie editing, jewelry design, digital marketing, cybersecurity, and more!​

TIME for Kids Digital Library
Audience: Parents, educators
TIME for Kids is providing free access to a digital library with high quality resources for families and teachers.

Design Squad Nation
Audience: Students (grades 1-8), parents, educators
Use these resources to help your students gain a stronger understanding of the design process and the connection between engineering and the things we use in everyday life. The Design Squad Nation Collection equips students with science and math skills, and lays the foundation they need to participate in engineering activities later in life.

EngineerGirl Try This! Design Challenge
Audience: Ages 8 and up
Try This! Design Challenges are hands-on activities using common household items. Challenges include: design a mini catapult, paper airplane, and sorting machine.

Engineering is Elementary - Engineering at Home
Audience: Students (grades 1-5), families, educators
These activities promote team work, critical thinking and problem solving. Use the steps of the Engineering Design Process to design a unique solution to a problem. Families that engineer together will build valuable skills and will gain the confidence necessary to tackle problems with an engineering mindset. Available in English and Spanish.

Harvard LabXchange
Audience: Students (grades 6 and up), adults, educators
Free online curated learning for science and engineering courses

CryptoClub
Audience: Students (grades 6-8), parents, educators
The CryptoClub Project develops classroom and web-based material to teach cryptography and related mathematics. The project began at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is now based at the University of Chicago’s Center for STEM Education.

DREME: At-Home Early Math Learning Kit for Families
Audience: Families with young children (birth to age 8), early learning educators
During the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, Development and Research in Early Math Education (DREME) seeks to help families with young children and the professionals who support them by offering free, research-based early math resources.

MathGames
Audience: Students (grades PreK-8), parents, educators
This is a simple platform that lets kids choose the kind of game they want to play and learn with. You have to pay for some of them, but most are free and allow users to choose not only the difficulty level, but also what skill they want to practice, from simple counting to mixed equations.

MoMath
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
The National Museum of Mathematics is offering online programs and virtual field trips. Free sessions are reserved for families who would otherwise not be able to participate without financial assistance.

Natural Math
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
Natural Math is a community for families, math circles, and other learning groups. Website includes online activities, courses, books (PDF), and games.

Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival 
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
JRMF hosts regular online events, including a monthly Math Circle. Puzzles and Games are also available.

Career Girls
Career Girls provides free, fun virtual activities for girls, their families and educators. During this extraordinary time check out their Empowerment Activities page for ways to keep being engaged and educated!

Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media rates movies, TV shows, books, and more so parents can feel good about the entertainment choices they make for their kids. We offer the largest, most trusted library of independent age-based ratings and reviews. Our timely parenting advice supports families as they navigate the challenges and possibilities of raising kids in the digital age.

Great Girl Media: Selected Resources from the NGCP Board Chair
The March 2020 edition of the NGCP E-Newsletter included a list of awesome girl-centric shows, sites, and apps that was curated by Jennifer Stancil, NGCP Board Chair.

USA Science & Engineering Festival XSTEM Videos
Bring the wonders of STEM directly to students with this video collection from past Festivals and X-STEM Symposiums.

Be a Chemist & Be an Engineer
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
Fun free STEM programs that aim to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Includes at-home experiments, videos, and live virtual events with Franklin Institute educators. Created by GSK Science in the Summer in partnership with The Franklin Institute.

Bug Chicks
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
Bug Chicks was created to teach entomology to students all over the world and promote informal science education. Educational tools include videos with accompanying in-class challenges, lesson plans that fit national curricula standards for K-5, tips and tricks, and interactive whiteboard activities.

Club SciKidz
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
Club SciKidz offers science camps, but these days their blog also features daily activities with videos and experiments that children and teens can conduct at home. The focus is on chemistry, physics, astronomy, and other scientific disciplines, and come in different levels (primary and intermediate).

Franklin@Home
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
All-new digital science offerings from The Franklin Institute. Take a virtual tour of the Giant Heart, explore NightSkies@Home, and get your daily dose of live science, experiments and recipes—because science never stops.

Geoscience Women in STEM
Audience: Students (grades 3-12), educators, geoscience enthusiasts
Website provides curriculum connections that concentrate on the Next Generation Science Standards in Earth and Space Science (NGSS-ESS) and illustrate ways that STEM topics can be explored across traditional disciplinary boundaries and in relation to all students' experiences. These stories provide inspiration to geoscience students, professionals, and enthusiasts everywhere. In addition, this website provides curriculum connections linked to profiles of women who are among today's leading geoscientists.

Science Buddies
Audience: K-12 youth, parents, educators
Science Buddies is a non-profit that empowers K-12 students, parents, and teachers to quickly and easily find free project ideas and help (via Ask An Expert) in all areas of science. Website includes an online library of 1000+ project ideas, robust teacher resources, and career information for students.

Science Friday
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
Science Friday is a non-profit dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of science and technology among the general public with the radio program Science Friday, fun videos, web articles, live events, and resources for parents and educators. The website features free hands-on activities and lesson plans anchored in engaging SciFri multimedia sortable by grade level, subject, and duration.

Stuck at Home Science from California Science Center
Audience: All ages, parents, educators
Stuck at Home Science is designed for families to explore, investigate and have fun learning together without leaving home. All activities use easy to find household supplies, and are appropriate for a variety of ages.

Bringing BADM to You
Audience: K-12 youth, parents, educators
This Bay Area Discovery Museum's (BADM) series is full of fun, research-backed learning experiences you can do with your children to inspire creative problem solving. Within each theme (Science & Math, Body & Brain, Talk & Play), you’ll find both step-by-step videos and activities with written-out instructions.

Concord Consortium
Audience: K-12 youth
Concord Consortium has created a STEM Resource Finder with free interactive STEM activities.

Corteva Agriscience Videos
Audience: Ages 8 and up, parents, educators
Short YouTube video series with STEM actvities. Includes: Build an Insect, Handwashing Science, DNA Extraction, Corn Based Biodegradable Products, and Chocolate Broccoli. More videos to come!

Do Science at Home!
Audience: K-12 youth, parents, educators
The National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Network) and its partners have developed a variety of hands-on STEM activities designed for use in museums and science centers. These hands-on STEM activities can be done with materials you may already have in your home

FLINN Scientific At-Home Science
Audience: 6th-12th grade youth, parents, educators
Choose from more than 50 easy and fun to do activities that use commonly available materials in the home to encourage science investigation.

GEMS Challenges and Activities
Audience: PreK-12 youth, parents, educators
Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS) have many challenges and club activities that can be adapted for use at home.

Girl Scouts at Home
Audience: K-12 youth
Whether you want to be a video game designer, rocket scientist, veterinarian, or even a chef, the worlds of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) are important to making your dreams come true. Plus STEM is just plain fun! Try earning a Girl Scout STEM badge today with these STEM activities for girls.

Girlstart STEM at Home
Audience: K-12 youth
STEM at Home was created by Girlstart to empower families and communities in STEM. Find free Girlstart curriculum, STEM resources, effective messaging tips, collaboration opportunities. Join the Girlstart newsletter and receive updated information on other online resources.

GoldiBlox STEM at Home
Audience: All ages
GoldiBlox is encouraging positivity, creativity, and connection. Visit their creative STEM at Home MakerSpace for fun DIY and STEM inspired projects.

National Inventors Hall of Fame Hands-on Learning Beyond the Classroom
Audience: Grades 1-6 youth, parents, educators
The National Inventors Hall of Fame has developed an at-home resource center to provide innovative education opportunities, no matter where learning takes place. Includes STEM activities, inventor printables and a virtual field trip to help extend learning beyond the classroom.

Project Exploration
Audience: K-12 youth, families, educators
Project Exploration has created transformative learning opportunities for youth underrepresented in the sciences –particularly students of color and girls – for more than 20 years. Activities are designed to guide young people through fun, hands-on STEM activities to do with simple materials they should already have at home.

SciGirls Connect
Audience: 6-8th grade youth
SciGirls knows it can be difficult during this time to keep kids engaged in education while stuck at home. Visit SciGirls CONNECT for fun yet educational STEM activities and videos (also available in Spanish).

Seeds of STEM
Audience: PreK/preschool parents and educators
Seeds of STEM has adapted some of their classroom activities to Home Activities for Preschoolers.

The Connectory
Audience: Families, STEAM program providers
The Connectory has online STEAM learning opportunities for youth, as well as hands-on opportunities at locations across the U.S.

Studies have found that children between the ages of 7-13 respond more creatively to radio stories than to stories shown on television. Audio stories prompted kids to draw more novel pictures, think up more unique questions, and solve problems in a more imaginative way than did TV tales. Here are just a few STEM related podcasts for kids:

Brains On
Each episode of this science podcast is co-hosted by a different kid, tackling their questions with interviews, fun segments, and the occasional musical number.

Marina Ventura's Climate Explorers
Marina discovers what climate is with Mappy App - and explores different climates that exist around the world.

Radiolab for Kids
One of the longest-running podcasts out there, Radiolab is a true institution when it comes to scientific on-demand radio content.  Radiolab for Kids is a deep dive into the podcast’s archives that gathers episodes that appeal to younger audiences.

SHABAM!
This podcast uses fictional stories to teach listeners about science. It's hosted by an emergency medicine physician, a science journalist, and a filmmaker. Season one tells the story of three kids who are separated from their parents during a zombie apocalypse.

The Show About Science
A science interview show hosted by second grader Nate Butkus. Each episode is filled with fascinating information from scientists and educators around the globe.

Tumble
A science podcast that explores how science actually works as a process. Co-hosted by a science journalist and a teacher, stories range from reaching the deepest part of the ocean to hunting for black holes in distant galaxies.

Wow in the World
NPR's first show for kids discusses the latest news in science and technology in a way that's enjoyable for kids and informative for grown-ups.

AccessComputing Online Learning Strategies for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities may want to adopt specific strategies for learning as they transition to online courses. Many students with disabilities have shared their experiences and recommendations for online learning; the DO-IT Center has compiled the advice into an easily digestible resources. Includes Technological Resources.

Discovery at Home
The Discovery Center has curating resources for home learning and play, including activities, videos, online Art with Abby, and a weekly PreK presentation on Facebook: SPARK Live! (Tuesdays at 9 a.m.) Most posted activities are in English and Spanish, and animal videos are captioned in English.

EarthEcho Virtual Events
EarthEcho Virtual Events is a nonprofit organization founded by siblings Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau in honor of their father Philippe Cousteau Sr., son of the legendary explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau. Each EarthEcho virtual event will focus on specific science standards for middle and/or high school students, but will be enjoyable and informative for a wide range of audiences. Typically, EarthEcho Expeditions virtual events are called “Virtual Field Trips” and EarthEcho STEMExplore virtual events are called “Virtual Career Connections.” Other than content or featured experts, there is no difference between the events.

Hippocampus
Hippocampus is an open-source project that aims to gather and make all kinds of educational material available for kids and teenagers. The platform has a great amount of multimedia content—videos, simulations, and graphics—covering subjects like math, biology, chemistry physics, and earth science. Free and no login required.

Kesler Science - Out of School Bundle
Free middle school science lessons. Three weeks of which include Earth, Life, and Physical Sciences.

Khan Academy
Khan Academy daily schedules for students age 4-18 to keep learning (for parents, teachers and students). Will continued to be tweaked and additional resources will be added.

NASA AT Home
NASA at Home offers something for the whole family. It brings together a repository of binge-worthy videos and podcasts, engaging E-books on a variety of topics, do-it-yourself projects, and virtual and augmented reality tours, which include the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station, as well as an app that puts you in the pilot’s seat of a NASA aircraft.

National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix
Audience: K-12 Teachers
An online, searchable, and standards-based curriculum map for K-12 teachers. The Matrix contextualizes national education standards in science, social studies, and nutrition education with relevant instructional resources linked to Common Core Standards.

PBS Learning Media
PBS and local public media stations have curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans and more. Browse by subject or grade. Includes STEM subjects.

PBS Nature
This collection of science videos and media-enhanced lesson plans draws upon the powerful documentaries of public television’s award-winning natural history series, Nature. The video segments have been carefully selected to engage students with key curriculum concepts. The lesson plans incorporate hands-on activities, online resources, and video to interactively and creatively address topics and standards in Life Science/Living Environment and Earth Science.

PBS NOVA
NOVA Education tailors NOVA's digital resources for educators in STEM. The free educator library is produced according to teaching standards and includes videos, audio segments, lesson plans, and interactives designed to facilitate effective classroom integration.

STEM Teaching Tools
The STEM Teaching Tools site includes highly usable tools to support STEM teaching. Every tool has been identified based on what is of interest to teachers. The tools are authored and reviewed by teachers and researchers, so each one leverages our best knowledge from practice and from research to inform how to teach STEM subjects.

Suburban Science
Resources and a YouTube Channel with helpful videos, created for teachers, parents, and homeschoolers.

California Academy of Sciences Animal Webcams
Frolic with penguins, plunge into a colorful coral reef, or visit the remote, iconic Farallon Islands—all via live webcam in vivid HD. Each webcam page includes fascinating information, including a look into the preening, molting, head-shaking behaviors of our African penguins.

Cincinnati Zoo's daily live stream
The Cincinnati Zoo has a new Facebook Live "Home Safari" show, airing every weekday at 3 p.m. ET. Each episode will feature a different animal and an accompanying educational kids activity that can be done from home. When daily shows are over, the video will be posted to the zoo's website.

Explore.org Live Nature Cams
Explore.org is the world's leading philanthropic live nature cam network and documentary film channel. Features a wide range of topics—from animal rights, health and human services, and poverty to the environment, education, and spirituality. Delivered in short, digestible bites, explore films appeal to viewers of all ages, from children learning about other cultures for the first time to adults looking for a fresh perspective on the world around them.

The Georgia Aquarium
The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta also has a number of 24-hour live steams on its jellyfish, beluga whales, piranhas and more.

Houston Zoo
In addition to ongoing live streams on its website, the Houston Zoo is offering daily live check-ins with different animals on its Facebook page.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
In addition to regular live streams of jellyfish and sharks set to music, the staff members at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California are narrating Facebook Live videos of fish, sea otters and other creatures from their own homes, answering viewers' questions and giving context to what's going on in the tanks.

The National Aquarium
The National Aquarium in Baltimore offers three live streams every day: Blacktip Reef, Pacific Coral Reef, and Jellies Invasion.

The Smithsonian National Zoo
The Smithsonian National Zoo hosts a 24-hour live view of giant pandas Tian Tian and Mei Xiang.

Wild Earth
Wild Earth hosts twice-daily safari live streams from South Africa during sunrise and sunset. During the steam, experts guide viewers through the experience and answer questions from the comments section. The show follows a reality TV show format, using safari vehicles, guides on foot, drones, balloons, rovers and remote webcams to search for its stars.

National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE)
Online virtual programs from science centers and children’s museums throughout the United States.

STEM4EC Blog: How to Engage Young Children with Disabilities in STEM Learning Within Distance Learning Environments
Dr. Yvette Mere-Cook, who teaches at Boise State University and also works as a pediatric occupational therapist, shares tips and answers frequently asked questions.

Resources for Kids Staying Home
Created by Heather Thompson, Head of Youth & Family Services, Kenosha Public Library, this is a wonderful list which includes Arts & Crafts, Literature Guides, Maker Activities, and STEAM activities. 

Smithsonian Learning Lab
A vast network of information, resources, and experts designed to bring the excitement of discovery and creativity to every lesson you teach. Each of the museums and research centers within the Smithsonian offer learning resources specific to their collections or missions.

Thinkery At Home
Great ideas and activities parents and caregivers can do with kids at home, using materials you likely already have lying around (so you don’t have to make any extra trips to the store!). Page will update with newest additions at the top of the page.

Daily Learning Drop Series (Safety Related Content)
Video series highlighting lessons, hands-on activities and demonstrations that can be completed at home. These Daily Learning Drops offer various safety and health-related activities and demonstrations using a fun, unique and hands-on approach. View on Facebook or YouTube.

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