A look at some of the STEM projects rural students participate in:
Graham Local Schools (Ohio)
Trout in the classroom: Fourth- and fifth-graders hatch and release trout, learn how to protect fish, run a sustainable food business and operate an environmentally friendly fishery.
Falcon Farms: Middle and high school students grow corn and soybeans on a district-run sustainable farm.
LINK TO MAIN STORY: STEM for small-town schools
Winfield City Schools (Alabama)
Student spaceflight experiments: Seventh-graders won a NASA competition to design an experiment for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The project seeks to determine whether the ubiquitous Southern kudzu vine can germinate in microgravity.
Internet coffee shop: High school business students run a coffee shop that offers customers internet access.
Putnam County School District (Florida)
Bicycle club: Middle school students learn STEM concepts as they assemble bicycles.
Web Krewe: High school students learn coding while they create a website for a local nonprofit.
Deborah Yaffe is a freelance writer in New Jersey.
