Many middle-level and high school students are unaware of how the topics they study in math, science and technology classes connect to real-world applications. There is a pervasive belief that concepts covered in these courses are just a part of what must be learned in school and that they have little utility outside the classroom. Therefore, the proverbial questions, “When will I ever use this stuff?” and “Who cares about this anyway?” continue to be asked.

In response, this website highlights the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) concepts and skills that are utilized in the planning and construction of a family home so that students in Grades 6–12 can develop an understanding of how what they are learning in school supports careers in the building and construction industry of the “real world”.

The website also aims to provide support to teachers of STEM subjects at the secondary level, who are seeking to build meaningful connections between course content and “outside of school” applications within the classroom. Herein, we provide resources to aid teachers in employing inquiry-based learning with their students, allowing them to apply their developing skills and concepts to real-world problem-solving situations.

While the content of the videos and accompanying lesson plans are directly linked to the middle and high school Science, Math, and Technology curricula for the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the concepts featured within are identified by topic and grade level and users will find that they are applicable to K–12 STEM curriculum wherever they teach.

The videos and lesson plans on this website were developed through a STEM education research project led by Dr. Grant Williams in the School of Education at Saint Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Eight funded student Research Assistants worked on the project over a 4 year period in roles as videographers, video editors/animators, scriptwriters, layout creators, narrators, and lesson plan developers. They are Shannon Anderson, Eric Hanenberg, Greg Parks, Emily Patterson, Elizabeth Polk, Abbie Rowsell, Kayoe Stewart, and Alex Watts.

In addition, teacher candidates in the Bachelor of Education program at St. Thomas University also contributed to the project through their work on various aspects of the videos. They are Veronica Beek, Priya Bhutani, Dave Blais, Noah Clark, Madison Cyr, Jenna DeGooyer, Jasmine Gidney, April Harrett, Kim Herle, Nicole Hornsby, Melinda Joseph Kelly, Kendell Keech, Sarah Kelly, Jewel McLatchy, Annie McLaughlin, Dawn McNiven, Katherine Miller, Janine Muise, Da Pan, Abigail Pavao, Molly Pickard, Ava Prosser, Nicholas Publicover, Aly Richard, Abigail Sanderson, Gabi Sant’Anna, Darla Saunders, Courtney Seymour, Patrick Toner, and Thomas Van Steeg.

Additional narration was provided by Pat Donelan, Peter Jewett, Mike Munro, and Michelle Parks.

Financial support for the project was provided by the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and Harrison McCain Student Research Internship/Knowledge Mobilization Grants awarded through the Office of Research Services at St. Thomas University.