A group of fifth- and sixth-graders recently learned about environmental science and watershed pollution through a hands-on project to build a rain garden at their school in Connecticut. Students used water-tolerant plants, peat moss and mulch to capture and filter rainwater run-off from a roof and parking lot before it drained into other waterways on the way to Long Island Sound.

Math students at one Kentucky elementary school used multiplication, division, area and perimeter calculation to figure out how many Post-It Notes their teacher would need to create Halloween-themed portraits on the library windows. Teacher Tyler Watts, who has done other Post-It projects at the school, eventually used 5,982 notes to create his portraits.

A study using spatial awareness tasks and math problems found no evidence for "the stereotype threat," in which a woman's performance might be affected when she is aware of negative stereotypes -- such as the idea that women are bad at math. "This study -- and other emerging research -- therefore calls into question how well the theory of stereotype threat can explain gender differences in mathematical performance," said the study's author, Charlotte Pennington, from the University of the West of England.

The nonprofit Jefferson Education Exchange and the US Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences are collaborating on a listening tour aimed at identifying ways education research could be more accessible and useful for teachers. Mark Schneider, director of the IES, says teachers should be more involved in the process.

Average math scores on the ACT college-entrance exam have declined from 20.9 in 2014 to 20.5 for the graduating class of 2018, the lowest level in about 20 years, according to ACT data. "We're at a very dangerous point. And if we do nothing, it will keep on declining," ACT Chief Executive Officer Marten Roorda said.

An Ohio county educational agency held a daylong conference on a college campus that included businesses and industry representatives connecting with roughly 630 high-school students on science, technology, engineering and math careers. Students were able to operate remote-controlled vehicles that included miniature versions of the dampers manufactured by one company.

ACTE is delighted to announce the 2019 national finalists in seven different award categories. The national winners will be announced at the ACTE Awards Banquet, on Nov. 28 during ACTE's CareerTech VISION 2018 in San Antonio, Texas. The Awards Banquet is generously sponsored by Express Employment Professionals, the US Army, CareerSafe and Stratasys. Celebrate your peers.

The October issue of Techniques will arrive in mailboxes this week. In the meantime, have you seen our new blog? For PAGES, Managing Editor Lia Milgram sat down with Rachael Mann, co-author of The Martians in Your Classroom, to discuss the challenges and responsibilities that go along with preparing students for careers that don't exist yet. Read more.