How to Stimulate a Child’s Interest in STEM Fields

How to Stimulate a Child’s Interest in STEM Fields

Health and Fitness June 23, 2018

With the natural curiosity that children have, many parents are interested in knowing how to turn that curiosity into an interest in the STEM subjects. In the United States, only 5% of workers are currently in STEM fields, yet they are responsible for about 50% of the economic growth. Read on to learn how something as simple as a chart of female reproductive anatomy labeled clearly, an exercise calorie chart, or a brain with skull can help spur visual learners even at a young age.

  • Understanding what STEM is all about. If you’re wondering what STEM is and how a female reproductive anatomy labeled chart could have anything to do with it, you should know that STEM is just an abbreviation for science, technology, engineering, and math. Increasingly, we’re understanding that all of these work together to produce innovations and advances in some of the most important fields of human endeavor.
  • How is the United States doing in terms of STEM students? Since science, technology, engineering, and math are so crucial in the modern world, it’s worth considering how America is falling behind in these areas. While South Korea currently graduates 38% of college students who major in a STEM subject, the United States only manages to graduate 16%. In a list of the 40 most advanced nations in the world, the United States ranks 38 in terms of graduating science majors. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology have found that about 40% of students who begin with a major in science or engineering will end up switching to something else.
  • What does something like a female reproductive anatomy labeled chart have to do with STEM and kids? Estimates are that 63% of students are visual learners, and the brains of children are very flexible up to age six. During their earliest years, they’re able to absorb enormous amounts of information, much of it from play and from what they see around them. An anatomical chart digestive system, a female reproductive anatomy labeled chart (and a male reproductive system labeled chart!), charts of the stars, animal classification charts, illustrations of basic scientific principles, and fun graphs illustrating math concepts are just part of helping students learn across contexts. The earlier their exposure to the sciences, the more we increase their passion in the ideas of science, technology, medicine, math, and anything else related to STEM in some way. We also present these things to them as normal, so that when the moment comes to choose a major, STEM subjects are not an unknown or even an unusual. Charts are just one way of reaching out to kids and piquing their interest in science. It’s also important to encourage their natural interest in exploration, to show them how science works itself out in everyday life–such as in cooking–and to make learning fun!

The Milky Way galaxy does not have as many stars as there are nerve cells in the brain of a human being. Children need theirs stimulated, so they’re able to reach the amazing potential they were born with.
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