STEM
October 24-October 30, 2013

Find the latest educational resources from Iowa Public Television.

So Many Parts
Grades: 4-6

In this game, learners are challenged to balance their oxygen and fuel use carefully as they don a spacesuit and encounter Newton's Third Law of Motion while using a jetpack on a spacewalk mission to fix parts of the space station.

Dunk Tank: Liquid Volume

Grades: 5-6

In this interactive game, learners explore key concepts about liquid volume, including standard units of liquid measure and how to convert between them. Activity segments include "Fill It Up" -- a game that challenges students to apply conversion of liquid units; a comic video about the importance of measuring carefully with when baking; and answering volume questions in a quiz-show format. This resource is part of Dunk Tank, a collection of interactive math-themed games.

Killer Clams
Grade Range: PreK-12

Giant clams are no myth. In the Pacific, some of the clams are as big as a suitcase! In this video filmed in Micronesia, Jonathan goes in search of Giant Tridacna Clams and examines the gross anatomy of a "killer" clam. These clams are so big that people used to think they caught people...and it almost looks like they could. It turns out that the actual problem is too many people are eating the clams. In the accompanying lesson plan, students will be introduced to the problem of overfishing and work in teams to learn how to catch fish sustainably while learning about the food web and the economics of fishing.

Mixed signals: Why is the USDA Promoting Nutrition and Pushing Cheese?
Grade Range: 9-12

In November, 2010, The New York Times reported that an organization called Dairy Management - which reports to the U.S. Department of Agriculture - gave Domino's Pizza millions of dollars to develop and market a new line of extra-cheesy pizzas. Nutrition experts howled that the new pies were nearly the opposite of the low-fat food that the USDA usually promotes. Are there other examples of the USDA working at cross purposes with ... the USDA? Sure enough, Need to Know found that this isn't the only case of the government sending mixed messages when it comes to the food we eat.

Global Warming: The Developing World
Grade Range: 6-12

Thanks to technology, the world is changing faster than ever before. Unfortunately, many of these changes are probably having a negative impact on the global climate. This video segment adapted from NOVA/FRONTLINE takes a look at what the future might hold for the environment as a result of the expanding use of technology.

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