BLOSSOMS video lessons are enriching students’ learning experiences in high school classrooms from Brooklyn to Beirut to Bangalore. Our Video Library contains over 50 math and science lessons, all freely available to teachers as streaming video and Internet downloads and as DVDs and videotapes.

Visit the BLOSSOMS Video Library http://blossoms.mit.edu/videos anytime to browse and download lessons to use in your classroom. Every lesson is a complete resource that includes video segments, a teacher’s guide, downloadable hand-outs and a list of additional online resources relevant to the topic. We carefully craft each BLOSSOMS lesson to make your classroom come alive. Each 50-minute lesson builds on math and science fundamentals by relating abstract concepts to the real world. The lessons intersperse video instruction with planned exercises that engage students in problem solving and critical thinking, helping students build the kind of gut knowledge that comes from hands-on experience. By guiding students through activities from beginning to end, BLOSSOMS lessons give students a sense of accomplishment and excitement.

While MIT faculty members and partnering educators in Jordan and Pakistan created the first BLOSSOMS lessons, today educators from around the world create and submit BLOSSOMS modules. We welcome you to join our international online community to learn more about our videos and to engage with educators worldwide who are looking for ways to enrich their students’ classroom experiences and share their ideas.

The Information Age has given way to the Innovation Age. Not only are today’s scientists and engineers putting sophisticated computers in our back pockets, they are inventing new ways to cure disease, feed the world, eliminate pollution and create renewable energy.

Opportunity abounds.

Yet at the same time, teachers are overburdened by testing mandates and crowded, resource-poor classrooms. Enrichment in math and science takes a backseat to rote learning and classroom management. Teachers feel frustrated. Students get discouraged. And all too often schools fail to prepare young people for their futures.

In contrast, we at BLOSSOMS hope to inspire students from around the world and from all walks of life to get involved. Our lessons show students, in a hands-on way, how exciting and fascinating math, science, engineering and technology can be.

While inspiration is paramount, preparation comes in a close second. BLOSSOMS lessons help prepare students for careers in the global innovation economy by teaching them to think. Each BLOSSOMS lesson connects seemingly abstract or dry concepts to the real world. More important, the lessons give students a real-world idea and the chance to play with it.

BLOSSOMS lessons engage students in observation, experiment and discussion. Problem solving activities stimulate students to think critically and to make connections that lead to “Aha!” moments. As students develop a deeper and richer understanding and intuition—what we sometimes call a gut feel for a concept—they gain the confidence and inspiration they need to continue their math and science education beyond high school.

BLOSSOMS is not alone in this effort. It is part of a movement called STEM Education – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education. STEM is a new way of thinking about how to best prepare high school students for post-secondary education and participation in the modern economy, which more and more often requires people to think critically, work independently, and apply a wide set of sophisticated skills. BLOSSOMS aims to improve these in-demand skills and to increase student interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

During a visit to a rural school in China, BLOSSOMS founders Richard Larson and Elizabeth Murray watched as a videotaped lecture enlivened an otherwise cold, bleak classroom. The teacher paused the lecture from time to time to engage with the class. The interruptions worked, but awkwardly, prompting Larson and Murray to wonder what would happen if they created video lessons that were designed to be interactive. They envisioned video lessons dovetailed with engaging activities for teachers to do with their students.

So inspired, Murray and Larson set out to create BLOSSOMS (Blended Learning Open Source Science or Math Studies), a series of freely available interactive lessons presented in a widely accessible video format. BLOSSOMS video modules supplement the standard curriculum with virtual lessons led by educators from around the world and activities led by local classroom teachers.

The BLOSSOMS project is sponsored at MIT by LINC (Learning International Networks Consortium), a global consortium of educators interested in using distance and e-learning technologies to increase access to quality education worldwide. BLOSSOMS is an “Open Educational Resource,” a web-based collection of materials offered freely and openly for re-use in teaching, learning and research. OERs such as BLOSSOMS help make education a right rather than a privilege by providing schools around the world with access to quality educational tools.