Jump Start Your STEM Program
Activities
STEM Sense Kits offer educators full flexibility with customizable activity sheets, an interactive flipbook, and engaging video lessons that make it easy to support student learning whether they’re in the classroom or at home.
Sensing
Support science and data literacy with live sensor data, interactive displays, and intuitive analysis tools that bring investigations to life. Kick-start your STEM experience with the //code.Node, then add additional sensors for unlimited possibilities.
Coding
The Blockly integration within PASCO’s data software helps familiarize students with the basics of programming, while providing them with customizable blocks and robust data features that enable them to apply their knowledge in a variety of real-world investigations.
Each complete kit arrives ‘classroom-ready’ with a Student Activities Booklet and editable, digital teacher resources. The booklets include engaging hands-on activities with step-by-step instructions, sample programs, and student questions that align with state and national science standards, as well as computer science standards. The accompanying digital resources include editable versions of the student activities, teacher answer keys, and an Interactive Flipbook with embedded student video lessons.
STEM Sense Activities skillfully scaffold concepts to ensure students are consistently engaged and developing their skillsets. Each booklet begins by introducing students to foundational coding blocks, concepts, and skills to help them build confidence using Blockly and the //code.Node. As they progress further into the investigations, students are challenged to apply their new knowledge to code-driven investigations that explore the science and sensors behind real-world technology.
PASCO’s STEM Sense solutions promote early excellence in science and STEM education with cross-curricular investigations that help young learners build strong foundations in science, programming and data literacy. Each complete kit includes a hands-on coding device, an editable Teacher Manual, video support, and additional resources to support the seamless integration of real-world STEM investigations into middle school science courses, STEM programs, and makerspaces.
Activities
STEM Sense Kits offer educators full flexibility with customizable activity sheets, an interactive flipbook, and engaging video lessons that make it easy to support student learning whether they’re in the classroom or at home.
Sensing
Support science and data literacy with live sensor data, interactive displays, and intuitive analysis tools that bring investigations to life. Kick-start your STEM experience with the //code.Node, then add additional sensors for unlimited possibilities.
Coding
The Blockly integration within PASCO’s data software helps familiarize students with the basics of programming, while providing them with customizable blocks and robust data features that enable them to apply their knowledge in a variety of real-world investigations.
Each complete kit arrives ‘classroom-ready’ with a Student Activities Booklet and editable, digital teacher resources. The booklets include engaging hands-on activities with step-by-step instructions, sample programs, and student questions that align with state and national science standards, as well as computer science standards. The accompanying digital resources include editable versions of the student activities, teacher answer keys, and an Interactive Flipbook with embedded student video lessons.
STEM Sense Activities skillfully scaffold concepts to ensure students are consistently engaged and developing their skillsets. Each booklet begins by introducing students to foundational coding blocks, concepts, and skills to help them build confidence using Blockly and the //code.Node. As they progress further into the investigations, students are challenged to apply their new knowledge to code-driven investigations that explore the science and sensors behind real-world technology.
Engaging Students in Technology for Experiential Learning and STEM Education
As digital natives, today’s students are comfortable exploring new technology, yet many continue to struggle with mathematics and science standards. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education prepares modern learners for a future rich in information and technology by engaging them in the exploration of natural phenomena.
Engaging students of all ages in STEM learning cultivates a range of technical and soft skills, including critical thinking skills, problem solving, perseverance, design thinking, collaboration, computational thinking, and creativity. Effective STEM activities integrate standards into open lessons within the context of real-world phenomena. Students usually begin with an introductory lesson that relates STEM to a real-world problem. Then, they’re asked to solve the problem using a variety of methods, including research, collaboration, inquiry, and testing. These real-world challenges encourage students to act as scientists as they research the issue, form an understanding, develop a solution, test, fail, collaborate, and succeed. Whether they’re programming, building, or measuring, STEM invites students to transition from observers to active participants in the learning process.
A big thanks for all the help and support you provided – I want to take some time to say a big thanks for all the help and support you provided me to select the best equipment in order to make the best possible use of the funds available. It is really exceptional that you happily connected with me multiple times even during the weekend and was always motivated to help. Please accept my big thanks for this.
Gurpreet Sidhu | Physics Instructor | University College of North | The Pas, MB
Wireless Spectrometer Big Hit With Students – PASCO’s wireless spectrometer has been utilized very well by our earth science and physical science teachers. It’s an excellent piece of equipment and we have very much enjoyed its addition to enriching our classroom. It definitely brings students to a higher level of understanding wave interaction at a molecular level.
Matt Tumbach | Secondary Instructional Technology Leader | Tommy Douglas Collegiate | Saskatoon, SK
Excellent Smart Cart – I thought the cart was excellent. The quick sampling rate for force will be very useful for momentum and collision labs we do. I’m recommending we include this in our order for next school year.
Reed Jeffrey | Science Department Head | Upper Canada College | Toronto ON
Your lab equipment is of the highest quality and technical support is always there to help. During the 25 years we have used a wide array of lab equipment including computer interfacing. Your Pasco line has a high profile in our lab and will continue to do so far into the future.
Bob Chin | Lab Technician | Kwantlen Polytechnic University | Surrey, BC
Datalogging Activities are Cross-Curricular
Throughout the province of Nova Scotia, PASCO’s probeware technology has been merged with the rollout of the new P-6 curriculum. We chose a number of sensors for use with our project-based activities. Both the functionality and mobility of PASCO’s dataloggers enable students to collect authentic, real-world data, test their hypotheses and build knowledge.
Mark Richards | Technology Integration Consultant | Annapolis Valley R.S.B. | Nova Scotia
We have a large number of PASCO wireless spectrometers and love how they have improved the learning experience for our students.
Shawn McFadden | Technical Specialist | Ryerson University | Toronto, Ontario
During distance learning due to COVID-19 school shut down, I was given a short window to collect what I could from my classroom to teach online. The PASCO wireless sensors and Smart Carts were my top priority to collect to implement distance learning. By sharing experimental data with students via SPARKVue, the sensors were pivotal in creating an online experience that still allowed students to grow with their lab skills. It was easy to record videos of the data collection and share the data with my students. They did a phenomenal job examining and interpreting the data.
Michelle Brosseau | Physics Teacher | Ursuline College Chatham | Chatham, Ontario
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Technical Support: 1-877-967-2726 ext. 713
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Order Form: 2022 AYVA Order Form
I have taught grade 9 applied science, science and technology, grade 10 applied, regular and enriched science, grade 11 chemistry and physics for 33 years at Westwood Senior High School in Hudson Québec. I discovered the PASCO equipment in 2019 and it completely changed my life. I love to discover, produce experiments and share discoveries. I am looking forward to work with your team.
Having graduated with a major in Computer Science and minors in Physics and Mathematics, I began my teaching career at Killarney Collegiate Institute in Killarney, Manitoba in 2009. While teaching Physics there, I decided to invest in PASCO products and approached the Killarney Foundation with a proposal about funding the Physics lab with the SPARK Science Learning System and sensors. While there I also started a tremendously successful new course that gave students the ability to explore their interests in science and consisted of students completing one project a month, two of which were to be hands-on experiments, two of which were to be research based, and the final being up to the student.
In 2011 I moved back to Brandon, Manitoba and started working at the school I had graduated from, Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School. In 2018 I finally had the opportunity to once again teach Physics and have been working hard to build the program. Being in the vocational school for the region has led to many opportunities to collaborate with our Electronics, Design Drafting, Welding, and Photography departments on highly engaging inter-disciplinary projects. I believe very strongly in showing students what Physics can look like and build lots of demonstrations and experiments for my classes to use, including a Reuben’s tube, an electromagnetic ring launcher, and Schlieren optics setup, just to name a few that have become fan favourites among the students in our building. At the end of my first year teaching Physics at Crocus Plains I applied for CERN’s International High School Teacher Programme and became the first Canadian selected through direct entry in the 21 years of the program. This incredible opportunity gave me the opportunity to learn from scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider and from CERN’s educational outreach team at the S’Cool Lab. Following this, I returned to Canada and began working with the Perimeter Institute, becoming part of their Teacher Network.
These experiences and being part of professional development workshops with the AAPT and the Canadian Light Source (CLS) this summer has given me the opportunity to speak to many Physics educators around the world to gain new insights into how my classroom evolves. As I work to build our program, I am exploring new ideas that see students take an active role in their learning, more inter-disciplinary work with departments in our school, the development of a STEM For Girls program in our building, and organizing participation in challenges from the ESA, the Students on the Beamline program from CLS, and our local science fair.
Though I graduated with a BEd qualified to teach English and Social Studies, it just wasn’t meant to be. My first job was teaching technology courses at a local high school, a far cry from the English and Social Studies job I had envisioned myself in. I was lucky enough to stay in that position for over ten years, teaching various technology courses in grades 10-12, while also obtaining a Master of Education in Technology Integration and a Master of Education in Online Instructional Media.
You will notice what is absent from my bio is any background in science. In fact, I took the minimum amount of required science courses to graduate high school. Three years ago I switched roles and currently work as a Technology Integration Leader; supporting teachers with integrating technology into their pedagogy in connection with the provincial outcomes. All of our schools have PASCO sensors at some level (mostly grades 4-12) and I made it my professional goal to not only learn how to use them, but to find ways to make them more approachable for teachers with no formal science background (like me!). Having no background or training in science has allowed me to experience a renewed love of Science, making it easier for me to support teachers in learning how to use PASCO sensors in their classrooms. I wholeheartedly believe that if more teachers could see just how easy they are to use, the more they will use them in the classroom and I’ve made it my goal to do exactly that.
I enjoy coming up with out-of-the-box ways of using the sensors, including finding curriculum connections within subjects outside of the typical science realm. I have found that hands on activities with immediate feedback, which PASCO sensors provide, help students and teachers see the benefits of technology in the classroom and will help more students foster a love of science and STEAM learning.