STEM/Space Educator Resources
Dr. Laurie Sullivan and NASA educator Steve Culivan provide lessons plans for teachers to get their students engaged in space and STEM topics.
U.S. Embassy Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan organized this program and the Nurorda Bilim school served as the host for this training session directed to English and STEM teachers, government officials, and American Corner coordinators. Dr. Sullivan and Culivan provided ideas and best practices for incorporating NASA and other free space resources in the classroom to raise interest in studying STEM.
In addition to the on-camera audience at the school, educators gathered to watch the program and submit questions online at six American Corners in Kazakhstan (Nur-Sultan, Karaganda, Kostenay, Oskemen, Pavlodar, Petropavlovsk).
Kazakhstan plays a key role in the space industry and is currently the only launch and retrieval site for astronauts going to/from the International Space Station (ISS). As such, Kazakhstan is uniquely situated to play a lead role in this type of program.
Speakers:
Laurie Sullivan
Dr. Sullivan is the Project Discovery teacher at K.W. Barrett Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, where she facilitates the school’s participation in the NASA Explorer School program. Sullivan designs and teaches hands-on/minds-on science and interdisciplinary units; uses technology and expository writing to enhance the science curriculum; coordinates STEAM events; and leads science and technology clubs for students.
Her areas of expertise are STEM education with a focus on space; leveraging existing NASA resources in the classroom; instructional technology; teacher professional development; and working with special education and gifted and talented programs to advance student learning.
Steve Culivan
Culivan is a NASA STEM educator professional development collaborative education specialist at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center. He develops and provides NASA STEM online and face-to-face professional development programs for in-service, pre-service and informal educators. An education specialist at NASA for over 30 years, Culivan has taught thousands of teachers and students about NASA exploration, missions, careers, and other STEM resources. He was the principal developer and writer of the NASA curriculum, Mass vs. Weight, and has been a member for other NASA curricula, including the Aeronautics educator guide, Mission Geography, Spaced Out Sports, and Food for Thought. Culivan has developed education investigations that he performed on the NASA Reduced Gravity Research Aircraft and was principal investigator for three education investigations performed by the astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS).