Purdue University’s Free STEM Degree for K-8 Students

Looking for a way to engage your children or students? Why not start them on the journey to becoming a lifelong coder? You could have them earn a STEM degree through Purdue University. Let’s take a moment to see what students can learn via this free program.

What Is the Purdue University Kids STEM Degree?

The Purdue University Kids STEM Degree consists of 10 videos, and the content is appropriate for grades K-8. Each comes with an assessment and a Google Form-based quiz at the end of each video. As students collect each code, they build towards a total of ten codes. Once they have ten codes, they can earn a degree from Purdue University Science. What’s even better is the program can be a solo project or group-based.

The program is part of Purdue’s College of Science’s K-12 Outreach efforts. They seek to engage students in standards-based activities. Their laudable goals include encouraging interest and enthusiasm for science and mathematics learning. They hope this will foster increased scientific literacy and efficacy in K-12 students.

What Content Is offered?

Students can choose between five grade level bands: grades K-1, grades 2-3, grade 4, grade 5, or middle school. After a student chooses their grade level, they start their degree program and earn their 10 codes. Here’s the one for Kinder through First Grade:

It’s about three minutes and thirty-two seconds long. Afterward, students can take a short quiz:

Sunlight Warms the Earth

After watching the video “Sunlight Warms the Earth”, answer the following questions. When you have answered the questions in this quiz correctly, you will receive a code. Be sure to save this code in a safe place. You will need this code to generate your Kids STEM Degree certificate after completing all of the quizzes in this level. Boiler Up!

Not to give away questions in the quiz, but they are straightforward, like this one:

After completing a quiz successfully, students get the code:

You have successfully completed the “Sunlight Warms the Earth” Grades K-1 Level 1 quiz.

Your CODE for this quiz is: [REMOVED]

Be sure to save this code in a safe place. You will need this code to generate your Kids STEM Degree certificate. That option will become available after you complete the quizzes in this level. Boiler Up!

The Middle School quiz is a little harder and references traditional books like “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” This makes sense since the video facilitators reference the story in the video. Here’s a question:

If you’re looking for an accompaniment to your science lessons, explore Purdue’s K12 videos. They are definitely worth a try!