About

JellyQuest is a website full of fascinating facts for curious little minds and grownups alike, with an emphasis on history, dinosaurs, our earth and more.

The site is run by Mark Porter, a father of three from the UK, who found it frustrating just how inconsistent and contradictory some of the content online is, more specifically the content aimed at children!

As such, each post is meticulously researched and fact checked against multiple sources (which you can find at the bottom of each and every fact based post!)

Again, the emphasis is on STEM (or STEAM, explained later on), with a creative approach to every subject!

β€œTell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

Our Fact Check Promise

We strive to ensure all information on JellyQuest is well-researched, accurate and up to date. Each resource is meticulously checked by multiple people, following strict internal guidelines, and sharing our sources on each post.

Every post is:

  • Thoroughly checked by multiple people to ensure what is being said is accurate and up to date
  • Edited carefully by experienced sub-editors to ensure the language used is appropriate for a younger audience, clear and easy to understand.
  • Regularly reviewed and updated to ensure its accuracy.

While we put in so much effort to ensure high quality, in the event that there is inaccurate information, we openly welcome feedback, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

What is STEM Education?

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and is a curriculum that is based on the idea that students should be educated in a way that is interlinked, blending the disciplines together whilst highlighting how they can be applied to everyday life.

STEM education encourages the introduction of these disciplines at a younger age, leveraging a natural interest in these subjects during pre-school or at the start of school, and that doing so increases the likelihood that students are successful in these areas.

Again, the emphasis is on real-life situations, with hands-on (and minds-on!) lessons for students that are fun, engaging and interesting.

An Ideal STEM Lesson:

  • πŸ”Ž Focuses on real-life issues and problems
  • 🀝 Encourages team work
  • βš™οΈ Is guided by the engineering design process (EDP)
  • πŸ”¬ Encourages the collaboration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, highlighting that they don’t need to be subjects that run in silos
  • πŸ‘ Is immersive for students, with hands-on exploration and relaxed, open ended learning
  • πŸ’‘ Opens up the thought that there can be multiple right answers, and that failure is simple a necessary part of the learning process

If you’re looking for specific examples of STEM lessons, you can find a handful of resources below:

Why is STEM Education Important?

Put simply, the demand for STEM jobs are growing. According to the Smithsonian Science Education Center, 2.4 million STEM jobs will go unfilled in 2018.

On average, STEM workers also out earn non-STEM workers by a substantial 12-30% across all education levels, and coupled with the increased demand it’s logical to try and ensure that future demands in these fields is met.

STEM based companies and organisations consistently produce breakthrough innovations for society, and will do for many, many years to come.

What is STEAM Education?

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. As the name suggests, it’s an initiative that proposes the introduction of the arts to STEM learning, and is believed to be the missing puzzle piece required to take STEM learning to new levels.

While some feel that adding arts into the mix would distract away from the core pillars of STEM, many more feel that doing so will help students connect their learning with art practices and design elements.

The STEM to STEAM initiative by the Rhode Island School of Design is an effort to introduce the arts into STEM learning in order to strengthen overall learning, and has much more information on why this is important.