5 STEAM OPPORTUNITIES THAT SOME PARENTS WILL TOTALLY BOMB

There are 5 STEAM jobs expected to be important, if not huge in the future…or should we say in the adult lives of today’s children. So many parents are preparing for their children’s future but most of have already missed out on cool opportunities to prep their kids for these. Some parents are going hard...but will totally bomb knowing the opportunities that 'matter' for their kids' career and financial options tomorrow. Don’t miss out. Tune in to what is changing, everything doesn't make it to the headlines but the great news is that there are a lot of fun things that your kids can do now to learn the basics of concepts linked to areas that are expected to be "huge" in their lifetime. Even playing with some STEM toys help them think differently like some of the new future jobs will require. Their brains are ready and some of the fun prep can be done with toys and playing. If you learn about what's coming and what interests your child, and expose them to what's needed, even in the fun ways - you won't bomb, in fact your kids will have an edge! So let's dig in.

5 jobs that don't exist today but that are expected to be "huge" in the future by STEMJobs are:

1. Robotics Engineer

Why send leave robots to the Jetsons when you could have one grab your snacks? According to research self-checkout is one step closer to robots taking over simple jobs soon. Experts say we’ll need brilliant people to design, build, and fix them. According to STEMJobs, this will be a huge field in future STEM careers.

How To Prepare Your Kids:

• Math and science courses

• College majors similar to electronics engineering or mechanical engineering

• Fun Prep! BattleBots clubs, BattleBot shows, lego bots, and STEM related toys

1. Drone Development & Exploration

Drones already give us some beautiful videos and photos, but they can be used for so much more. Future STEM careers involving drones will span from law enforcement to designing to agriculture.

How To Prepare Your Kids:

• Aerodynamics & physics courses

• Check out Drone Racing competitions

• Fun Prep! Purchase a toy drone or check out drone vids online

1. Space Pilot

There was a time when it was thought to be impossible to fly airplanes, but now thousands travel using commercial airlines every day. The next frontier? Space. Before you know it, you could be in the cockpit flying customers on a non-stop trip to the moon.

How To Prepare Yours Kids:

• Aviation school

• Check out NASA’s underwater space-simulator laboratory

• Fun Prep! Flight simulators, flight simulation apps., VR Flight simulators

1. Organ Designer

People are living longer and longer, and pretty soon, instead of waiting for organ transplants when something vital begins to fail, doctors will find a way to create organs using that person’s own cells. Scientists are already on their way – some medical companies predict simple organs,  such as bladders, will arrive soon – but organs like lungs, kidneys, and hearts are trickier because they are more complex.

How To Prepare Your Kids:

• Focus for good grades advanced math and science courses

• Later majors like bioengineering in college

• Learn about Wake Forest’s program, which is working to grow more than 22 different organs and tissues in the lab.

• Creativity exercises this field requires a lot of inventive thinking

• Fun Prep! Check out creativity brain boosting exercises like our STEAM trivia on Kidz Mic’s Instagram, try Operation or the Magic School Bus human organ STEAM toys

1. Water Harvester

Last but not least on our future STEM careers list is a career in water harvesting. Humans will always need water, but we will have to find more creative ways to gather it to get it to people all over the world. Even now, more and more regions are experiencing record drought due to our overuse of fresh water. From atmospheric water harvesters to those who desalinate seawater, innovators will find new sources of drinking water with low environmental impact.

How To Prepare Your Kids:

• Earth science courses

• Come back next week for our kids’ ‘fun at home’ PH water challenge

• Later a major in environmental science or engineering

Fun Prep! Check out STEAM Water toys like hand boilers, or a water station

STEM Facts that are scary to not know:

• 2012 STEM Phd Degree counts were: 8,478 White Men, it goes down to 6,777 for White women; and that number dwindles to 684 for African American women (10 times fewer)

• 8th Grade is an important year to watch - The Brookings Institute recently profiled the Wake County Public School System in North Carolina, which noticed students in advanced high school math classes were disproportionately white. The pattern started right at the point when students were sorted as to those that would take Algebra in eighth grade, make sure your child's school or teacher has measures in place to avoid implicit bias.

• Only 1 in 4 schools across the nation offer computer science courses. Does yours? In 2007, only 734 African American students took the computer science AP exam out of 20,000 total participants - are you prepping your child to be aware of these options? Ask teachers now how to ensure your kids are ready later.

• Afterschool Alliance found 70% of parents want more STEM/Arts to support their interest in children and their family - you can do quite a bit to support your kids in STEAM Ed. at home, we will share more about fun ways to do it in the next few weeks and months

• Georgetown University Center found that 65% of Bachelors’ degree holders in STEM fields earned more than Master’s degree holders in non-STEM occupations

• 47 percent of Bachelor’s degrees in STEM occupations earn more than PhDs in non-STEM careers (usnews.com, 2012) What STEM areas - if any are of interest to your kids? We have quizzes and tools to help you and them find out.

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