Blog Posts

Celebrating teacher power: Pitsco TAG reflects on educators who make a difference

Posted by Admin on May 10, 2022

What makes a good teacher? What inspires someone to become a teacher in the first place? And, what inspires them to keep teaching, even during tough times?

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Topics: Elementary School, High School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, Teacher Resources, Teacher Development, Authentic Learning, Women in STEM

Activity: T-Bot® offers leverage for exploring simple machines

Posted by Admin on January 19, 2022

A great physical science education tool isn’t just exciting while you are using it; it continues to provoke thought and make real-world connections well after you’ve placed it back on the shelf. Case in point: I recently spent time exploring Pitsco’s T-Bot® Hydraulic Arm. It was a fun challenge using the hydraulic robot arm to pick up and move blocks, and I thought about links to automation and heavy machinery as I used it. But, to my surprise, after I put the device away, what I really couldn’t stop thinking about was my own arm.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Middle School, Elementary School, High School, ROBOTICS, Teacher Resources, Science, Technology, STEM, Authentic Learning, Activities, Hands-on Learning

Kid Inventors’ Day: Celebrating creativity in all young inventors

Posted by Admin on January 17, 2022

Kid Inventors’ Day, a day to celebrate young inventors of the past as well as encourage today’s inventors, falls on January 17, every year, a fitting nod to inventor Benjamin Franklin because January 17 is also his birthday.

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Topics: IN THE CLASSROOM, Middle School, Elementary School, High School, IDEAS & INSPIRATION, ROBOTICS, Resources, Authentic Learning, Activities, Hands-on Learning, innovate

Philadelphia’s Urban Youth Racing School helps students Build A Dream

Posted by Admin on November 11, 2021

Since its founding in 1998, the Urban Youth Racing School (UYRS) in Philadelphia has earned a fair amount of publicity for the spectacular opportunities it offers to inner-city students. Sneak a peek during the school’s Build A Dream summer program, and you are likely to see students learning about engines, designing cars, and racing go-karts as part of a simulated racing team.

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Topics: Middle School, High School, BEYOND THE CLASSROOM, Competitions, Science, STEM, Dragsters, Engineering, Careers, Authentic Learning, Activities, Future Ready, 21st Century Skills, Maker Ed, Hands-on Learning, STEAM, Workforce Development, Art

Inner-city ed: from cradle to career

Posted by Admin on November 11, 2021

KANSAS CITY, MO – Don’t tell Mary Esselman that some kids can’t learn as well as others because of the bad hand life has dealt them. She’s experienced some tough environments and knows better, and besides, she doesn’t have time for such nonsense.

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Topics: Middle School, Elementary School, High School, ROBOTICS, Makerspace, Makerspaces, Collaborations, Science, Technology, STEM, Engineering, Careers, Coding, Authentic Learning, Social and emotional learning, Activities, Future Ready, TETRIX Robotics, 21st Century Skills, Maker Ed, Hands-on Learning, STEAM, innovate, Workforce Development, Inquiry-based Learning