Nine expert STEAM ideas curated

Vicki Davis’ Cool Cat Teacher post published March 24, 2026, compiles contributions from nine practitioners—Karim Meghji, Tinashe Blanchet, Stephen Ritz, Dr. Erin Krupa, Karen Bosch, Andrew Vanden Heuvel, Dan Meyer, Adrian Gordon, and Terra Tarango—as Part 2 of a STEAM Super Series. (coolcatteacher.com) Code.org’s Hour of AI campaign offers free, no‑prerequisite, one‑hour AI activities aimed at K–12 classrooms and was promoted as an evolution of Hour of Code. (code.org) Vicki cites Karim Meghji on AI literacy and notes Code.org’s plug‑and‑play “unplugged” AI activities that require no devices, explicitly designed for elementary learners. (coolcatteacher.com) Karen Bosch demonstrated that handing students a Merge Cube produces rapid peer‑to‑peer learning — students reportedly begin teaching each other within three minutes — while Merge EDU hosts 3D, standards‑aligned AR models for anatomy, planets, and geometry. (coolcatteacher.com) (mergeedu.com) Andrew Vanden Heuvel’s Fortnite Physics Playground publishes virtual “islands” built with Unreal Editor for Fortnite that expose real‑time position, velocity and acceleration data for classroom experiments and are packaged as single‑class activities. (andrewvh.com) (pubs.aip.org) Tinashe Blanchet promoted scale‑model PBL to make measurement, ratio and geometry tangible within short units, and Dr. Erin Krupa described Shark‑Tank‑style math projects as research‑backed, real‑world tasks that boost engagement and mathematical identity. (coolcatteacher.com 1) (coolcatteacher.com 2) Dan Meyer urged using Desmos to convert static practice into dynamic, real‑time math activities that support formative checks and conceptual discussion in minutes rather than whole‑class lectures. (coolcatteacher.com) Vicki’s roundup references Stephen Ritz’s urban agriculture work as “growing 50,000 pounds” in the Bronx, while Green Bronx Machine’s own reporting states the program has produced more than 165,000 pounds of produce as part of its K–12 curriculum and community efforts. (coolcatteacher.com) (greenbronxmachine.org) The episode was sponsored by the Van Andel Institute for Education; VAI’s Educator Studio sells classroom‑tested, inquiry resources (listed as 600+ tools) with a membership page showing a $19.99/year price and Vicki’s post includes a promotional code (COOLCAT) for 50% off. (vaieducation.org) (coolcatteacher.com)