As this school year has been virtual for most students so far, teachers are looking for new opportunities and resources to enhance student learning. Jasmine Smith, a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) solutions, career investigations, and STEM applications teacher at Saunders Middle School, found a great opportunity for her classes presented by the USA Science and Engineering Festival, called SciFest.
SciFest
provides
students
with
the
opportunity
to
share
a
virtual
science
festival
field
trip
and
learning
opportunity.
Students
are
able
to
visit
exhibits
in
seven
STEM
zones,
including,
engineering
and
tech,
space
and
aviation,
math
and
computer
science,
defense
and
security,
health
and
medicine,
natural
sciences,
and
energy.
In
addition,
virtual
participants
take
part
in
over
100
STEM
activities,
watch
performances
by
STEM
professionals,
and
win
prizes
by
making
it
into
the
top
tier
of
the
leaderboard
for
the
scavenger
hunt.
To
attend,
Smith
completed
a
school
registration
for
Saunders
Middle
on
the
USA
Science
and
Engineering
Festival
website.
She
then
emailed
the
registration
link
and
instructions
to
her
students
and
parents.
On
the
day
of
the
field
trip,
students
met
with
Smith
during
their
usual
Zoom
class
time.
They
reviewed
the
welcome
video
sent
by
SciFest
and
logged
into
the
platform
to
explore
the
SciFest.
Students
later
returned
to
the
class
to
complete
an
exit
slip
to
share
their
experience.
"Students
really
enjoyed
the
event
and
were
thrilled
to
hear
that
the
initial
week-long
festival
has
been
extended
to
the
end
of
October."
This
gives
other
schools
a
chance
to
take
part
in
this
great
event,"
shared
Smith.