Outreach program helps thousands of Arizona students learn STEM

The School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources' K-12 outreach program is helping Arizona teachers engage their students in science learning. The free program has brought hands-on science activities to 35,342 Arizona students over the past five years.

Arizona students score lower in science than in other subjects, and teachers face challenges in teaching the subject due to a lack of resources. The school's outreach program offers a solution with hands-on activities involving samples of rocks and minerals.

“We can bring stuff from the university that may be difficult for a regular teacher to get into their classroom,” said Christopher Earnest, SMEMR education outreach director.

Materials like chemicals, goggles, and microscopes are expensive and hard to find for educators on a budget.

When lessons are boring, Soleng Tom Elementary teacher Rachel Howe hears about it from her fourth-grade students.

“‘What is this for? Why am I even learning this? I’m never going to need this,’” said Howe.

But when students can touch the lesson, engagement increases dramatically.

“It just brings the learning more alive, the kids are actually making more connections with it; they can see it, manipulate it,” Howe said.