What role does STEM play in your classroom? If you’re looking to inspire your students around science, technology, engineering, and math this school year, there is a special event you’ll want to add to your calendar. It’s a virtual field trip with a 3-time Olympian, 15-time World Champion, 7-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, and an advocate of STEM. You can inspire student STEM innovation with this special event and free educator resources.
In today’s blog post, I share all of the details about a Virtual Field Trip with Olympian Katie Ledecky and Panasonic brought to you by Discovery Education. This virtual event takes place later this month, and you and your students are invited! I’m very excited that they are offering this free opportunity for educators – along with supporting resources to help you inspire student STEM innovation this school year.
Virtual Field Trip with an Olympian
On January 25th, you and your students can join Olympian Katie Ledecky for an event designed to inspire student STEM innovation.
Here is the official description of the upcoming event on Student STEM Innovation:
Join Katie Ledecky, 3-time Olympian, 7-time Olympic Gold Medalist swimmer, proud STEM advocate, and Team Panasonic athlete, for an immersive deep dive into game-changing tech that’s creating better ways forward for all people. Transport students to five Innovation Centers around North America for a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the everyday inspiration Panasonic’s team uses to power groundbreaking new ideas that improve people’s lives and make the world a better place.
This special event takes place on January 25th at 1 PM ET. Use this link to learn more about the Virtual Field Trip.
Reasons to Try a Virtual Field Trip
Regular readers of the blog know that I love virtual field trips. You might remember this post about the types of questions you can ask students when sharing these learning experiences. Educators at all levels, can take part in a virtual field trip with students and follow up with a robust discussion.
You can use general questions to spark a conversation, like one of these:
- What surprised you during this event?
- How did this experience change how you felt about technology?
- What questions do you still have?
- How can you use what you learned from this event?
Or you might try more specific questions about the topic, like one of these:
- What is your favorite thing that Katie Ledecky shared?
- Where might you go to learn more about STEM?
- What is it like to compete in the Olympics?
- Share a question you have that you would like to ask Katie Ledecky.
The team behind this special event has even put together a unique educator guide, too.
STEM Innovation Educator Guide
I love when organizations craft supporting materials for teachers that go along with their resources. This Virtual Field Trip from Panasonic and Discovery Education includes an educator guide with lots of helpful information. On the first page, you’ll find an overview of the event along with four core objectives for students.
The guide includes tips on what to do before and during the event. And you’ll also find follow-up activities to try with your students. I certainly appreciate how these resources include scaffolding tips for students who might need extra support. These strategies are helpful for customizing the resources and learning experiences for different groups of students.
This Educator Guide also includes a list of standards addressed through the Virtual Field Trip. You’ll find the Next Generation Science Standards and Standards for Technological Literacy listed in the document. As you customize the activities for your students, I’m sure you’ll make connections to other English Language Arts and content area goals you are working on this semester. In addition to the teacher-facing resources, this guide includes ready-to-use handouts in a PDF format. So you can print them out or share the digital version with your class.
Grab your spot now for this special event! Learn more on this page about the Virtual Field Trip with Olympian Katie Ledecky from Panasonic and Discovery Education!
