For 140 classrooms, the future begins right about...now!Back in October, our partners at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany challenged teachers in Greater St. Louis to post their most creative science projects through the Smarter, Together program. These are teachers who want science class to leave a memorable mark on their students' lives, and they rose to the opportunity.Last week, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany donated $125,000 to fund 140 of the most inspiring projects. Here are three projects that we hope encourage other teachers to tackle tough questions with their students.Robo-EngineeringMrs. Gragert will teach her middle school students how to construct and program robots with Lego Mindstorms. Together they will answer the question, “How can we instruct the robot to most efficiently solve a problem?”DNA, What Is It and Do I Have It?Can learning about DNA engage elementary students? Mrs. Knight thinks so and will use hands-on kits and have students extract DNA from samples.Building Polymers for the Future“One word: plastics. There’s a great future in plastics.” Maybe Ms. Klump is a big fan of The Graduate, or maybe she knows that her middle school students are eager to learn material science and solve the environmental plastics problem.Did these projects inspire you? Let us know in the comments what you'll ask for next to make us all smarter, together!
