Texas Instruments announces “STEM Behind Hollywood” program

Aimed at getting middle and high school students excited about STEM subjects and careers, "STEM Behind Hollywood" makes math and science come to life in a series of free online classroom activities available at www.stemhollywood.com that help teachers demonstrate the real-world concepts behind four popular Hollywood themes:  Zombies, Space, Superheroes and Forensics.

Each activity can be downloaded to the TI-Nspire CX graphing calculator, Student Software or TI-Nspire Apps for iPad, allowing students to visualize and interact directly with sci-fi influenced representations of the math and science to gain a deeper understanding of the real-world concepts.

Melendy Lovett, president of Texas Instruments Education Technology, commented: "We are helping teachers draw young people into STEM by showing the 'cool factor' of real-life science and math behind the magic they see in movies and on TV. We are very excited to work with The Science & Entertainment Exchange and our STEM education brand ambassador Mayim Bialik on this initiative to capture students' imaginations and cultivate a lifelong interest in STEM subjects and careers."

These activities were developed with the help of scientists and experts from The Science & Entertainment Exchange who consult on Hollywood films and TV shows to ensure the accuracy of science and mathematics depicted on screen. And Bialik, who is not only the Emmy-nominated actress portraying a scientist on The Big Bang Theory but is also a scientist in real life, helps students make the connection between what they see on screen and real concepts.

"The Science and Entertainment Exchange is a nonprofit outreach of the National Academy of Sciences that brings scientists and entertainers together to make the movie magic as realistic as possible. When entertainers have questions about anything from robotics to physics to genetics as they're making feature films, TV and videogames, we'll bring in field experts who can help them develop whole worlds and characters and stories with real science behind them. One of our goals of this effort is to inspire the next generation of kids into STEM careers, and Texas Instruments' approach to getting kids engaged in math and science by using Hollywood as an entry point, it's really exciting," comments Rick Loverd, Program Director of The Science & Entertainment Exchange.

In the first activity, Zombies, Bialik teams up with Steven C. Schlozman, PhD, Harvard Medical School professor and renowned author of "The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse," to help students explore several real-life scenarios of math and science – including what factors would impact the outbreak and spread of a "zombie pandemic," much like the plot of the summer's blockbuster film World War Z, andwhat a "zombie brain" teaches about a real, healthy human brain's functions.

"It's important to know zombies aren't real but that doesn't mean we can't think out loud in the classroom about what makes them sick and have teachable moments with students on epidemiology and neurology," comments Dr. Schlozman. "This first activity takes scary, real-life scenarios like avian flu or Ebola outbreaks and turns it into something we can talk about and have some fun with, while still learning and exploring some very serious science concepts."

In addition to Zombies, "STEM Behind Hollywood" activities will feature themes of Space, Superheroes and Forensics with the help of noted field experts, including:

• Space: Dr. Randii R. Wessen, Senior Technical Staff at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) Innovation Foundry.
• Superheroes: Jim Kakalios, PhD, University of Minnesota professor, author of The Physics of Superheroes, and Exchange consultant for Watchmen and Green Lantern.
• Forensics:  Diane L. France, Ph.D., D-ABFA, Forensic Anthropologist and Director of the Human Identification Laboratory of Colorado.

Teachers, students and parents can visit www.stemhollywood.com to learn more about the "STEM Behind Hollywood" program, access the free activities, and sign up to receive notifications when new activities are available. A free trial of TI-Nspire CX computer software is available for students and teachers to use with the activities.