Maxwell AFB Beyond the Horizon Air & Space Show STEM Education Resources

WELCOME to the Maxwell Air Force Base "Beyond the Horizon" Air & Space Show STEM Expo's Education Resource Page!

The following are resources which both educators and students will find useful. As more resources are identified, this page will be updated.

This page will focus on aviation, space, and cyber STEM-related resources to follow the lead of the United State Air Force, the host organization of Maxwell Air Force Base.

The Maxwell School Liaison Office has many K-12 resources for River Region schools..

Find out more about 'Beyond the Horizon STEM Expo' Organizations

The Air & Space Forces Association

$500 Educator Grants

Teacher of the Year Program

Middle and High School CyberPatriot Program

Middle and High School StellarXplorers Program

The host organization for this page, Civil Air Patrol, has free aerospace-related STEM products and programs for K-12 formal and informal educators! Find out how to become a CAP educator member and receive all of the free programs on the Educators Page.

And, for youth, ages 12 and above, check out Civil Air Patrol Cadet Programs:

See the first seven minutes of the Jan 2022 Nick News segment about CAP HERE.
View a 1:12 minute AZ video about opportunities in the CAP Cadet Program HERE.

Other STEM EXPO Organizations: Check out their websites to find all the interesting STEM careers and programs they may offer

20th Special Forces Group- Alabama National Guard
42d Medical Group (MDG)- Maxwell Air Force Base
AFRL- Air Force Research Lab Careers That Make a Difference Internships and Scholarships
AFROTC Det 015 Tuskegee University (Click on sections, to include scholarship opportunities) Research and Innovation Programs and Courses
Air Force Wargaming Institute - Air University Maxwell Air Force Base Air Force Materiel Commander (MFMC) Science and Technology Wargame (S&T)
Alabama State University Division of Technology Services and Innovation
Alabama Technology in Motion ATiM specialists provide ongoing, high-quality, research-based professional development focused on equipping K-12 educators with skills to integrate digital literacy and computer science
AUiX- Air University's Innovation Accelerator The Eagle Institute
Beta Box Learning Helping K12 schools implement epic hands-on learning
Central Alabama Works Students & Training Career Discovery
Department of Defense (DoD) Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship & Grant Program Scholarship. Stipend. Internship. Career.
Faulkner University
Gathering of Eagles Foundation Honoring Airpower Heritage to Inspire Airpower's Future with the GOE Events Scholarship Program Mentoring Program
NASA (found in several sections below)
McWane Science Center Birmingham, AL Sparking Wonder & Curiosity About Our World
Montgomery Amateur Radio Club, LLC
STARBASE Maxwell Summer Programs
Talladega Superspeedway
Troy University Academic Resources
U.S. Naval Academy
U.S. Navy All Hands Blue Angels Demonstration Team What is the top speed and rate of climb of the F/A-18?
U.S. Space & Rocket Center Huntsville, AL Space Camp; Robotics Camp; Aviation Challenge Camp Educator Resources
Wetumpka High School STEM Clubs and Programs: Robotics, SkillsUSA
STEM-on-the-GO
Ford Motor Company
U.S. Service Recruiters
Commemorative Air Force

CAF Rise Above - Inspiring Young People with the stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP)

Interested in the historic The Tuskegee Airmen?

Check out this lesson about Gen Chappie James, which highlights this Tuskegee Airmen legacy hero and includes STEM and associated character connection lessons.

Interested in cool Women in Aviation?

Check out some iconic Women in Aviation, with history and model plane building lessons! For other information and activities, go to the pages of Women in Aviation international, host of the annual Girls in Aviation Day, and the Ninety-Nines.

Now, check out other STEM organizations and resources!

Aerospace/STEM Career Exploration:

Interested in an Unmanned Aerial Systems Certification program?

The Unmanned Safety Institute has a special offer to allow secondary institutions to take advantage of the sUAS Level 1 program for FREE ($5,000 value).

Interested in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)?

Geocaching OpenStreetMap 100 Earth Shattering Remote Sensing Applications Spin the Globe in Google Earth

Interested in becoming a pilot?

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has Flight Training scholarships for high school students. Flight training scholarships are also available for teachers who are teaching the special AOPA High School Aviation STEM Curriculum. To be eligible, one needs to become an AOPA student or educator member. Check out the AOPA's You Can Fly programs!
Check out the slide deck presentation, "So You Want to be a Pilot," which provides a good overview of aviation pathways, scholarships, and organizations which may help propel youth toward an aviation vocation and/or avocation!
Aviation 101 with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has an online, video-based course that is provided to youth at no cost. If you want to learn aviation fundamentals and how to become a licensed pilot, start here.
Check out Redbird's FREE weekly STEM+ Labs!

Redbird has also offered a complimentary copy of their Private Pilot Training Events workbook, full of tips and exercises for effective flight training.

Interested in learning more about the F-35A Lightning II, the new aircraft at the Alabama Air National Guard's 187th Fighter Wing in Montgomery?

Visit with the 419th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, UT! F-35 Virtual Field Trip with math and technology info and career tips!

Interested in a career in Aerospace Engineering?

Learn all about aerospace engineering, the undergraduate experience, career pathways, and the latest advancements in the industry from students, faculty, and alumni of the Penn State College of Engineering HERE!

Interested in becoming an official SkyWarn Spotter with the National Weather Service?

To find activities and training in your state, click on your state HERE; then, Information, then Skywarn Spotter where info about training in your area will be conducted (there are also some education activities there). The link to free online training is found HERE.

Interested in any career in aviation?

Check out Spark101's Career Snapshot Aerospace Industry video, complete with educational materials, topics and standards, and educational pathways! Check out and sign up for more info at Spark101!

Interested in Southwest Airlines career exploration programs?

1. Kindergarten -12 Career Resources... Pilots, Flight Attendants, Ramp Agents, oh my! Explore this page to learn about meaningful careers as a pilot, flight attendants ramp agents, and more. Discover opportunities for students to gain first-hand experience in the aviation industry at Southwest Airlines.

2. Southwest Airlines Adopt a Pilot Program provides support to classrooms across the nation.

3. Southwest Airlines K-12 Speaker Request Form... To request a Southwest Airlines K-12 speaker, please fill out the request form and provide as much information as possible about the event. Please note: while they will do their best, not all requests can be accommodated. Speakers cannot be recorded. This could be a great resource for CAP cadets and students across the country.

4. Destination 225... Destination 225° trains and empowers future pilots on how to fly The Southwest Way. If you've ever dreamed of a career at 35,000 feet, set your course for 225° through one of SW's four pathways: Cadet, University, Military, or Employee.

Interested in anything about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)?

NASA Aeronautics includes missions, galleries, NASA TV and much more, including NASA STEM Engagements: Educator Resources - Exploring STEM and Student Resources- NASA at Home, which is a separate site from NASA at Home (e-books, podcasts, videos, virtual tours, and more...),

NASA Aeronautics Research Institute's Advanced Air Mobility Academy (AAMA) has amazing resources and trainings! AAMA is a virtual classroom series open to 6th – 12th grade students and educators. (Great for squadron use, too!) AAMA is hosted by NASA subject matter experts and is designed to teach AAM principles with hands-on STEM activities. Events are streamed onto YouTube and available to watch live or recorded, featuring Next GEN STEM Aeronaut-X and much more! There are student internships, fellowships, and pathways with an assortment of educator resources. Teachers can apply for Classroom of the Quarter. Check out "Aerial Drone," "Air Taxi Design Challenge," and more to come. Archived Academy presentations, to include "Package Delivery Drone Simulation" and “The Science Behind Quadcopters,” as well as resources and registration are at this site.

NASA eClips serves the national K-12 educational community by introducing students to STEM concepts and providing teachers with engaging resources and tools to support teaching and learning. Developed in 2008, NASA eClips offers free educational resources for teachers to use to complement their curriculum. (Also found on the NASA eClips YouTube channel.) Educational material for this program is selected based on national curriculum standards including the Common Core State Standards – Mathematics (CCSS-M), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the Standards for Technological Literacy (defined by the International Technology Engineering Education Association (ITEEA), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

The National Institute of Aerospace works with NASA to continue to provide relevant and engaging science content and access to subject matter experts (SMEs). Though primarily developed with the formal K-12 classroom audience in mind, NASA eClips also provides resources to increase understanding of NASA science to lifelong learners, non-formal audience, and the general public. Professional development opportunities are delivered to demonstrate best practices using newly developed resources to address student misconceptions in science, as identified by national assessment sources.

The NASA Educators Online Network (NEON)* learning community developed by researchers at the Aerospace Education Services Project (AESP), housed in Penn State’s College of Education. NEON gives K–12 educators of the STEM disciplines an online symposium for sharing matters of common interest. The network allows teachers to bond with scientists, engineers, and other teachers to help support their classroom work. NEON also allows users to locate a variety of teaching, learning, and professional-development resources.

NASA HUNCH program The HUNCH mission is to empower and inspire students through a Project Based Learning program where high school students learn 21st century skills and have the opportunity to launch their careers through the participation in the design and fabrication of real world valued products for NASA.

NASA GLOBE GLOBE, the Global Learning and Observations to benefit the Environment Program, is a worldwide program that brings together students, teachers, scientists and citizens to promote science and learning about the environment. Through a hands-on approach to inquiry, participants are encouraged to engage in local investigations that cover five core fields: atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, soil (pedosphere), and Earth as a system.

NASA's STEM Engagement for Students

Interested in Mars Exploration fun?

Try out the Code a Mars Helicopter Video Game (Mars Perseverance's Ingenuity Helicopter)

Interested in Astronomy and Star Gazing?

Top Six Free Stargazing Apps!

Other Great Resources (in alphabetical order)

50 Easy Science Experiments to do with stuff you have at home.

Academy of Model Aeronautics paper airplane templates HERE!

Aerospace Micro-Lessons from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics STEM K-12 include almost 100 easily-digestible lessons focused on aerospace principles; ranging from engineering, to mathematics, to physics, to highlighting aerospace anniversaries. (MORE AIAA opportunities for youth and educators are found HERE!)

The Air & Space Forces Association's Aerospace Education Programs

- Stay abreast of AFA's CyberPatriot program and competition! Now is a great time for middle and high schools to learn more about cyber security via their website's training materials! (Click on competition/training materials.)

- Also, check out the AFA's StellarXplorers program and competition for high schools!

Both of these national competitions culminate with virtual national finalists events in March.

Both competitions are open for annual registration from early April- early October.

Air Force Research Lab (AFRL): Information Directorate’s Griffiss Institute STEM Outreach Program

Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative- AMSTI (Alabama Department of Education)

ARISS: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station: Educational Content and Educational Videos

Code.org's Learning Computer Science

DiscoverE has an amazing amount of engineering lessons and activities! Started over 30 years ago as the organization behind National Engineers Week, DiscoverE is a wealth of online resources!

Disney's & Kennedy Space Center's Free Online Learning

Gravity STEM: Gravity (The Next Frontier in Human Flight) is working with their sponsors to provide specific STEM support materials and educational outreach event

Project Lead the Way- STEM Programs

Seven National Science Foundation-supported STEM resources for at-home learning

Scholastic Free Learn-at-Home Resources for School Closings

Schoolhouse Rocks (Complete multiplication series from 1973-2009!)

Science Never Stops! (from the US Space & Rocket Center

Science with Virgin Galactic (YouTube teaching videos)

Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Educator Resources

- Includes how things fly and create your own paper airplane - with a flight contest!

Space Foundation's Discovery Center: Discover Space From Home videos, lessons, and webinars

Space Station Explorers Learn at Home Activities and Experiences

SpaceX Dock the Dragon with the ISS simulator

Stories from Space! and Science from Space! Astronauts read space stories and demonstrate science lessons while on the ISS!

Texas Girls Collaborative Project has great online Resources for Virtual STEM Teaching and Programming for Educators, with links to many resources for families and home activities, as well as webinars)!

Try Engineering, powered by IEEE, provides free lesson plans for exciting engineering activities for youth, ages 4-18. There are teacher lessons and student involvement opportunities.

Virtual Field Trips Around the World! An assortment of virtual field trips for cadets and other youth.

Vivify STEM is an online resource site. One registers for the newsletter and receives a code to get into the myriad free STEM resources, to include resources for special dates and events.

VR VEXcode Project is a free resource that allows one to use block coding to create a program that will command a virtual robot to perform actions that are in the code. Each block is associated with a number of instructions based on the Python programming language. Block coding is a form of GUI, or Graphic User Interface.

Find out how GLR-IL-282- Lake in the Hills Composite Squadron's AEO, Maj David Hooper, used this VR VEXcode program for a virtual cadet activity! See video HERE. (May take a while to download.)