2020 has proven that severe challenges around the world affect us all. Finding new solutions for challenges like sustainability, environmental preservation, and safety will only be possible in the future if we are nurturing critical thinking skills in students today. Inspire students to become the problem-solvers of tomorrow with resources from Fueling Education.
Developed in partnership with CITGO, Fueling Education brings the wonder of the STEM world directly to students in grades 5-8 through no-cost educational resources and activities designed to spark new interest in solution-seeking.
Fueling Education Student Challenge
The cornerstone of the Fueling Education program is the student challenge! This challenge encourages students to work individually or together in teams of 2-4 members to identify problems in their own communities and work to find possible solutions. Students must align their entries to one of four United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
- Safety and Well-Being
Students may develop a solution to increase life expectancy, help doctors diagnose diseases and other health issues sooner, increase overall happiness in senior citizens or other age groups, or address other safety and well-being related challenges.
- Quality Education
A topic that is more visible now than over, students can explore solutions that could make quality education more accessible, more equitable, and with easier access to essential resources like electricity, technology, and community investment.
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
Inspire students to share a solution that could make large, urban cities more sustainable in the years ahead. How can we help the environment flourish in large urban areas? How can we limit carbon footprints and provide access to public transportation?
- Life on Land
Explore solutions that help support animal health and longevity, combat desertification, sustainably maintain forests and natural landscapes, restore coastal shorelines, and more.
Video entries for the Fueling Education Challenge are accepted September 24th through March 22nd, with the top team taking home $20,000! Educators and parents can find complete instructions for entering the challenge, along with an entry checklist and a challenge storyboard to help students plan for their entry at FuelingEducation.com.
Flexible for virtual or in-person learning environments, Fueling Education also features digital lesson bundles that help students gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that face our communities and the professionals working to solve them. Each bundle includes a video, complete lesson and step-by-step educator guide for easy implementation. Three new digital lesson bundles take students on a journey to learn how museum curators, health coordinators, and environmental interns are each using their STEM skills to change the world around them by innovating new sustainability solutions.
The program also features career profile videos highlighting the stories of CITGO professionals, along with accompanying career profile guides. Providing students with detailed information related to STEM careers that they may not have considered helps expand their view of what future success in a STEM career could hold.
Share these no-cost resources with students to inspire them to consider how STEM innovation can change the world and to shine a new light on STEM career paths.
Fueling Education resources can also be found in Discovery Education Experience.