Increasing Student Awareness of STEM Careers in High School Science Classes

As we move into the twenty-first century, careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are becoming increasingly more important. Therefore, a greater number of students with undergraduate and/or graduate level university degrees in these areas will be required to fill the numerous and varied professional opportunities which are currently being developed in these disciplines. However, there is a great disparity among the student populations entering collegiate science programs. At the present time, an increasing number of colleges and universities across the country are actively recruiting students and in particular students from traditionally under-represented populations. This curriculum unit has been designed to introduce high school environmental science students into the field of robotics. The ultimate goal of the unit is to motivate minority student populations into considering STEM as a career path.