STEM Links - Middle School	Quick Clearinghouse Search

Engineering Pathway
We invite you to Learn, Connect, and Create with high-quality teaching and learning resources in applied science and math, engineering, computer science/information technology, and engineering technology for use by K-12 and university educators and students.

GeckoMan Game
Working in collaboration with Metaversal Studios, a company that specializes in educational game creation, the CHN has created "GeckoMan," a game that offers an interdisciplinary look at nanotechnology's scientific and social implications. “GeckoMan” teaches, through game play, the principles of nanoscale force interactions. The goal is a game that produces an “intuitive” understanding of these otherwise non-intuitive forces. The game is intended to be distributed to middle-school and high-school students through a variety of channels, including popular Internet gaming sites.

Project Lead The Way
PLTW is a pre-engineering program that provides free curriculum and support to high schools and middle schools nationwide to help students interested in engineering make the transition into college and university engineering programs. Currently serving 37 states, PLTW's primary focus is workforce development. PLTW also provides teacher training through summer training institutes and ongoing professional development in conjunction with state affiliate colleges and universities. This resource is recommended by the SME-EF.

Project Lead the Way Ohio
PLTW is a pre-engineering program that provides free curriculum and support to high schools nationwide to help students interested in engineering make the transition into college and university engineering programs. This website acts as an information resource for Ohio educators either participating in or considering participation in Project Lead the Way (PLTW).

BEST Robotics, Inc.
Find information and links for competitions and educational materials for high school and middle school.
This resource is recommended by the SME-EF.

Botball Educations Robotics Program
Find information and links for competitions and educational materials for high school and middle school.

Carnegie Mellon Robotics Engineering Curriculum
The Robotics Academy is committed to using robotics to excite children about science and technology and to help create a more technologically literate society. This website offers curriculum, teacher training and equipment.

Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical Mechanical Manufacturing Systems
One of the primary missions of the Center for Nanoscale
Chemical-Electrical Mechanical Manufacturing Systems is to develop a diverse workforce of educators, scientists, engineers, and practitioners to advance nano-manufacturing technology in the United States and around the world.

Discover Engineering.Org - What is a Manufacturing Engineer?
This site has a summary of manufacturing engineering, plus short activities provided by SME.
This resource is recommended by the SME-EF.

FIRST Robotics and LEGO League
Find information and links for competitions and educational materials for high school, middle school and elementary grades. This resource is recommended by the SME-EF.

Girls Creating Games
Girls Creating Games is an after-school and summer program designed to support the interest of middle school girls in computers and information technology (IT).

GirlStart
Girlstart is a non-profit organization created to empower girls to excel in math, science, and technology. Founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, Girlstart has quickly established itself as a best-case practices leader in empowering, educating, and motivating girls to enjoy and become more proficient in math, science and technology.

IDEAS
IDEAS' goal when soliciting project activities was to identify low-cost, “hands-on” engineering projects for use in middle schools math, science and technology classes. The announcement attracted over 60 entries from teachers, engineers, and concerned educational and professional groups.  A panel of middle school teachers and engineers helped to plan the project and evaluated the entries. The resulting ‘IDEAS’ projects have been adapted from those entries. This resource is recommended by the SME-EF.

Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS)
JETS is an organization established to increase awareness of and interest in engineering and technology-based careers and seeks to increase college enrollment in these careers. Their focus is primarily on secondary schools. This resource is recommended by the SME-EF.

LASER Teacher Toolkits - Middle School
Washington State Leadership and Assistance for Science Education Reform (LASER) is part of the National Science Resources Center's (NSRC) LASER Center funded in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Our program is centered on the use of NSRC's Strategic Planning Institute that has been offered to school districts across the country since 1989. The Strategic Planning Institutes help school districts implement research-based science instructional materials. Many of these school districts have become models of successful implementation for the rest of the country. The instructional materials implemented and the professional development used is based on the best research available regarding the qualities of a successful science education program.

Mathcounts
A national math coaching and competition program for 7th and 8th grade students.

Nano Lessons
A repository of lessons are available for instructors that wish to incorporate cutting-edge nanoscience into their STEM curricula. Each NanoLesson contains a descriptive summary, sample lesson pages, related simulations and seminars. These Nano Lessons are targeted for the 7-12 grade classroom. All materials on the NanoEd Resource Portal are peer-managed and covered by a creative-commons attribution, non-commercial share-alike type licensing.

National Junior Solar Sprint
A U.S. Department of Energy program where student teams in grades 6-8 construct model solar-powered cars and race them.

Star Wars Activities
Activity downloads support local and national science, math, and technology literacy standards. You can view the educational standards related to a given activity by clicking the link. Educator downloads are appropriate as either classroom or at-home family activities. They are ideal for children in grades 3 - 8, but can be modified for other audiences.

SWE Internet Activities Center
In the Internet Activities Center you will find a series of Lesson Plans with hands-on and interactive computer activities designed for young women grades 5-8 and above. The materials meet the National Science Standards while introducing basic engineering skills such as drafting, using tools, deductive skills and the scientific method.

TOYChallenge
TOYchallenge is a national toy design challenge for 5th-8th graders and a chance for teams of imaginative kids to create a new toy or game. Toys are a great way to learn about science, engineering, and the design process. That's why astronaut Sally Ride brought Hasbro, Sigma XI, Southwest Airlines, and Sally Ride Science together to launch this challenge!

TryEngineering - Manufacturing Engineering
TryEngineering.org is a resource for students (ages 8-18), their parents, their teachers and their school counselors. This is a portal about engineering and engineering careers with hopes hope it will help young people understand better what engineering means, and how an engineering career can be made part of their future.