What Is STEM Learning & Why Should You Care?

Over the past few months, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with kids across Canada who have been working hard on some pretty neat ideas. What stood out to me was they were already immersed in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Did they realize it? Some did, however most weren’t thinking that far into future but simply exploring how to get the wheels rolling for their big ideas.  STEM is definitely becoming mainstream and will continue play an important role in everything we do. Just think about it. STEM is part of our lives in so many ways.

I saw their passions helping with social issues like bullying and recognizing depression in youth to helping other teens encouraging others to be active and even ways discover ways to help the bee population. – it was all very inspiring.  I met a group of teenage girls who have impressively incorporated augmented reality into their online initiatives and asked about what their futures would look like and they all knew that STEM learning would continue to open more doors. They spoke excitedly about STEM as a balance of using your creativity and a learning how to take your ideas to the next level. Awesome!

These were your everyday kids who enjoy sports, music, and everything else that kids love. Exposure to STEM learning is now deemed as fun and who knows what the future will hold? So, what can you do at home to encourage learning in these areas? The fun starts here even with younger kids…

I was thrilled to find out that Actua, a national Canadian charity, has shared hands-on STEM activities that are featured by  Energizer on its microsite. You can visit the STEM activity hub to find enriching worksheets available for free to parents here.

Actua is a registered charity with a twenty-year track record of success in providing hands-on, interactive education enrichment experiences in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics to Canadian youth ages 6 to 16 years.

Energizer is a large proponent of STEM – using these skills resulted in the new Energizer_® EcoAdvanced_™ battery, the world’s first AA battery made with 4% recycled batteries.