STEM Reaches Out In All Directions

STEM: On the Screen and Behind the Scenes

'Ghostbusters' and Neil deGrasse Tyson's 'StarTalk' blend celebrity with science.

Amy Golod | August 4, 2016

As Columbia Pictures' Carolyn Lassek and Claudia Bonfe scouted particle and nuclear physics labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for "Ghostbusters," Lindley Winslow showed them around. Winslow, an assistant professor of physics, took them to the building on campus that houses a cyclotron, a machine that uses a magnetic field to accelerate particles.
Science in a film such as this summer's blockbuster not only introduces the audience to terminology and jargon, but also to potential careers, Winslow says. "Those are the two things that work together to plant the seeds in people's minds, especially girls' minds, that, 'I can do this. I can try this.' It gives them the confidence to say, 'Well, I saw someone do this, maybe I could try it and maybe if I try it, I would be good at it.'"

"Summit Elementary School Principal Lakya Washington shows the school buses that have been converted into computer labs at Summit Elementary School." (Summit buses converted into computer labs. August 8, 2016) Source; http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/08/09/summit-buses-converted-computer-labs/88440160/

"Engaging Children in STEM Education EARLY! December 2013." Source: http://naturalstart.org/feature-stories/engaging-children-stem-education-early

<more at http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-04/stem-on-the-screen-and-behind-the-scenes; related articles and links: http://www.sciencepioneers.org/parents/why-stem-is-important-to-everyone (Why STEM Education Is Important For Everyone.) and  http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-08/full-steam-ahead-buses-converted-into-computer-labs (Full 'STEAM' Ahead: Buses Converted Into Computer Labs. This STEM lab is the only one of its kind in Mississippi. August 8, 2016)>