STEMrific Dispatch – Vol. 16 | November 2025

Empowering STEM educators with innovative ideas & community‑driven projects

Welcome / Editor’s Note

Hello STEMrific community!
November is the perfect time to reflect on the incredible STEM work happening across classrooms and communities. Hello STEMrific community!
This month we share actionable strategies, inspiring projects, and ready-to-use resources to keep students engaged as the year winds down. We’d love to hear how you are putting STEM into action — reply with a one-minute snapshot of a classroom or community STEM project and we may feature it next month. Let’s celebrate STEM in action!

Reference: Edutopia – Why STEM Matters

Feature Story / Spotlight

Bringing Real-World STEM into the Classroom
STEM education makes learning real and gives students opportunities to see the connection between the content they are studying and the application of that content in authentic and relevant ways.”
— National Science Teaching Association

3 Takeaways for Teachers

1. Make STEM Relevant
   Connect lessons to real-world challenges—local environmental issues, community tech projects, or school-based initiatives. Relevance sparks curiosity and deeper engagement.

2. Use Project-Based Learning
   Design hands-on projects where students apply concepts to solve authentic problems. Encourage teamwork and creativity through tangible outcomes like prototypes or digital presentations.

3. Build Reflection into the Process
   After projects, guide students to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and how they can improve. Reflection strengthens critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

How to replicate: Pick a local challenge (e.g., school garden, community sensor project). Have student teams propose solutions, present to peers or the community, and reflect on outcomes together.

Quick Tip + Resource

STEM Tip: Try “STEM Storyboards” in your classroom!
Before starting a project, have students visually map out:

• Their ideas and goals

• Tasks and responsibilities

• Expected student outcomes

This strategy strengthens planning, teamwork, and problem‑solving skills, helping students approach STEM challenges more systematically (PBLWorks, 2023). Learn more here. PBLWorks

Resource:
For creating engaging visual storyboards, try using Picsart Storyboards — an intuitive tool for students to design and share project planning storyboards. Perfect for planning experiments, coding projects, or any hands-on STEM activity.

Tip: For example, students might storyboard a mini “Smart Greenhouse” project — planning sensors, plant-care tasks, and data collection before building.

Community Highlight

Smart Greenhouse Project
Students designed a “Smart Greenhouse” using sensors and data analysis to optimize plant growth. Combines engineering, coding, and environmental science. Teachers noted improved teamwork and creativity. Tip for teachers: Start with one small sensor-equipped plant box. Gradually scale the project over the semester as students gain confidence. (Forward Education, 2025).

Upcoming Events + Call to Action

Mark Your Calendars:

• November 23 is Fibonacci Day — a fun way to explore the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3…

• Geography Awareness Week 2025 (Third week of November)(November 17-21, 2025) American Association of Geographers Click here.

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Thanks for reading. Stay tuned next month for volume 17. Follow me on Social Media @stemrific. Start your own newsletter.