Inventing Toys

She designed a sailboat and a ferris wheel. He designed a motorcycle and a roller coaster. They're a team and they have jobs that most kids (and a lot of adults) would envy: They design toys and get paid for it.

Inventing with Polygons

Chuck Hoberman’s inventions are more than just technological marvels; they’re works of art. See how basic principles of geometry help him create extraordinarily strong, expandable structures.

Landscape Architects

Meet two landscape architects who tell the story of competing against top firms in the world to win the opportunity to design a one-of-a kind botanical garden for the city of Chicago: the Lurie Garden at Millennium Park.

Life Under the Ocean

A marine biologist studies the jellyfish-like animals living at 3,000 feet below the surface, where it is cold, dark and quiet. Featured: George Matsumoto, marine biologist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

Lightning

There are over twenty-five million cloud-to-ground lightning flashes strike in the U.S. every year. Meteorologists use a combination of math and science to track when and where they will strike.

Maglev Trains

Gliding on a wave of electromagnetic force, a maglev train could travel at 300 miles per hour or faster. Designer-engineers describe the mechanics and future benefits of such superconductor trains.

Making Fuel Cells

Imagine living on the moon, with a two-week night (and you thought Daylight Savings was bad!). How would we store enough power to survive? A look at the work of a materials engineer building fuel cells for humanity’s next big adventure.

Maria Bualat

Maria Bualat describes what she does as an engineer for NASA Ames Research center in Mountain View California. Hear her talk about her passion and how she got started in engineering

Mars Helicopter Ingenuity

Ingenuity Helicopter - How do you build a helicopter that will survive in temperatures below -140° F? And fly through the extra thin Martian atmosphere, all while powering itself? Solving problems like these is all in a days’ work for mechanical engineer Sergio Valdez.

Measuring in Different Units of Weight

It is important to measure the size of the animal and understand how each animal’s size and unique needs relate to the area or capacity of its enclosure.

Measuring Length, Capacity & Temperature

It is important to measure the size of the animal and understand how each animal’s size and unique needs relate to the area or capacity of its enclosure.

Mechanical Engineer

Spacecraft require thousands of tiny parts, and they all have to work together in the most extreme conditions possible – outer space. How do you assemble it so everything works? A look at the work of a JPL engineer.

Models for Movies

Building miniature replicas with a full-scale imagination, Greg Jein reproduces every detail of the Star Trek space vessels. Featured: Greg Jein, model maker.

Moorpark Zoo: Managing Exotic Animals

Today’s homework: Hand-feed tigers, divvy up raw meat for hyenas and teach the sea lion to play hide and seek. Show your students why math, especially measurement, is an essential tool when it comes to caring for animals. Running time 4:58 minutes.

Music for Movies

Whether he’s trying to make the chase scenes exciting or the scary scenes scary, Oscar-nominated film composer James Newton Howard explains that he relies on patterns to write the musical scores for movies.

New York City Subway

Have you ever seen 3.6 million people in one day? If you worked behind the scenes of the New York Subway, you would. Watch this movie to see how one of world’s busiest subway systems around New York City every day.

Operating a Restaurant

There’s more to running a restaurant than great food. The restaurant business is a perfect training ground for solving problems.

Percussion Instruments

Why is it that when you beat, tap or hammer on some objects you get nothing but a “thud”, while on others you get pure ringing tones? Answer lies in the science of vibrations and resonance, as shown in the design and manufacture of percussion instruments.

Pioneering Solar-Powered Outdoor Classrooms

Krista Rigsbee, founder of Constructive Systems Inc., unveils solar-integrated outdoor classrooms. These innovative spaces merge STEM with education, emphasizing both sustainability and hands-on learning.

Planetary Defense

Over one million asteroids have been discovered in our solar system! But do we need to worry about them? And how do we find them? NASA asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia and Bob Holmes tell us all about asteroids, and how we track and analyze them.

Powering the Planet – Space Solar Power Idea

The idea of solar power from space touches on science, technology, engineering, the environment, math, energy and more. Pose this concept to students to stimulate critical thinking about these issues & get them involved in the conversation.

Predicting the Weather

From tornados to hurricanes and thunderstorms to climate change, these nine scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are using math and science to better understand and predict severe weather systems.

Project Engineer

Project Engineer for Horizon Wind Energy, Johnny Goff, describes problem solving and engineering.

Recycling

Each person in the U.S. generates about 25 pounds of garbage a week. That means the nation's population produces nearly two hundred million tons of residential garbage every year. Fortunately, up to 80% of that can actually be recycled....

Recycling Computers

Go inside Electronic Recyclers to see how they break down millions of pounds of electronics every month. Everything from computers to cell phones, TVs to Xboxes, comes through their doors to be crushed, shredded, melted down and reused.

Reliable Robots

When it comes to designing robots for space, making sure that they can complete their missions is the name of the game for NASA’s robotics engineers. That requires math, especially probability.

Revisiting the Moon

Evidence suggests there may be deposits of ice within craters at the poles of the moon. If this proves to be the case, Planetary Scientist Dr. Paul Spudis says it could possibly be “the most valuable piece of real estate in the solar system.” Find out why

Rocket Motor & Rocket Engine Difference

The Ares I rocket has both a motor and an engine. What's the difference between the two? [The Ares rockets were part of NASA's Constellation Program which ended in 2010. Despite the policy change, this movie shows real-world applications of STEM]