On April 8, 2024, a solar eclipse was visible across the U.S., with parts of Texas lucky enough to experience a total eclipse of the sun by the moon. Houston landed just outside of the path of totality, giving students the opportunity to witness the moon’s 94% obfuscation of the sun using special kits provided by Space Center Houston and delivered by a real NASA astronaut.
Continue readingCategory Archives: STEM
HISD students focus on the future in unique Technology Applications elective
Most middle schoolers wouldn’t envision themselves producing and starring in their own TV show, writing lines of code to program 3-D prints, or building computers from scratch, but for Burbank Middle School Technology Applications students, that’s an average Wednesday. Under the guidance of Technology teacher Sergio Luviano, Burbank students have the opportunity to master complex technological concepts through engaging projects and real-world application in this unique elective class.
Continue readingHISD students get wild with visit from Houston Zoo ambassador animals
Fonville Middle School is an HISD magnet campus that houses the Academy for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Professionals. Under the direction of Magnet Coordinator Nishtha Pant, Fonville’s three-year-old magnet program gives STEM scholars access to classes developed to foster creative thinking in scientific fields.
Fonville’s STEM curriculum begins with Introduction to STEM in the sixth grade and branches out into three learning pathways: Engineering, Information Technology, and Computer Science. To supplement these programs of study, Fonville works with community organizations to introduce further STEM concepts. One of these organizations is the Houston Zoo, who visited Fonville on Friday, Nov. 3, with three animal ambassadors in tow.
Continue readingAfter-school club encourages girls to pursue STEM
Girls Who Code is an organization that provides free coding curriculum to school clubs with a few core goals: coding, teamwork, and sisterhood. Girls Who Code exists to inspire students to see themselves as computer scientists—not just girls, but especially girls—who historically have been afforded less exposure to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) learning and fewer opportunities in technical and engineering fields.
Continue readingHartsfield ES students embark on underwater drone project
On the journey to Destination 2035, HISD educators are looking for ways to incorporate innovative lessons in technology-focused core competencies. At Hartsfield Elementary School, students are learning with underwater drones.
Continue readingHISD students use STEM concepts to design spy gadgets for special Netflix events
What do you get when you combine a hit movie franchise, a box of crayons, and a cafeteria full of inventive fifth graders? If you didn’t say “gadgets designed to save the world,” then you’re not thinking like a Spy Kid.
Students at several HISD elementary schools were treated to a preview of the new Netflix movie “Spy Kids: Armageddon” and challenged to design their own spy gadget with the hope that the exercise will serve as a gateway to an interest in STEM learning.
Continue readingChávez HS students blast off toward national rocketry competition
The casual observer might never guess that the students who gather after school in Dr. Maqsuda Afroz’s science classroom at César E. Chávez High School are anything but ordinary high schoolers. They gossip and smack-talk and speculate about the future, most of them seniors with one foot out the door. Few would guess that these “average high schoolers” are in fact literal rocket scientists.
The Chávez Rocketry Club, headed by Afroz, spends two afternoons a week (and sometimes lunch periods or whatever scraps of free time they can get) designing and engineering model rockets for an international competition, The American Rocketry Challenge.
Continue readingCelebrated Hispanic astronaut gives HISD students out-of-this-world surprise
As students gathered in the Deady Middle School auditorium on Friday, Sept. 15, they thought they knew what they were in for. Deady students, along with students from Milby High School and Davila Elementary, were treated the day before to a preview screening of the new Amazon Prime film, A Million Miles Away, the life story of astronaut José Hernández. Little did they know that José Hernández himself was waiting in the wings to surprise them.
Continue readingHISD students multiply summer fun with Rice University math camps
Over summer break, Rice University welcomes hundreds of middle and high school students to participate in various academic camps offered on campus. The Tapia Camps, named for mathematician and Rice professor Dr. Richard Tapia, are for rising eighth-12th graders interested in STEM and honing their calculus skills before the new school year.
Continue readingTeen journalists discover “More to the Story” covering news in their school and community
Attucks Middle School prides itself on wearing many hats in order to consistently create opportunities for students to engage with and experience the community around them. In doing so, Attucks has made itself a home for a variety of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) magnet programs including a gardening club, an award-winning robotics program, and a culinary club via the Attucks STEAM Academy.
