Teaching Tools Featured

This documentary is a powerful and inspirational story about education, science, and the next generation that follows a diverse group of middle school students who compete in a nationwide competition to code satellites aboard the International Space Station. Seen through the wondrous eyes of three young innovators and their first-time coach, they each embark on an intimate and personal journey to the final frontier as their team grows from amateur coders to represent California in the ISS Finals Tournament — the culmination of a summer-long adventure that sees their incredible accomplishment performed by astronauts in orbit.

This short documentary directed by Jon Shenk (An Inconvenient Sequel) and Pedro Kos (The Great Hack) captures the lives and stories of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. By weaving a tapestry of diverse individual stories with evocative details of contemporary urban life, the short aims to understand this issue from the perspective of those surviving the ever-growing social crisis. This guide is intended to flexibly support educators and families alike with creative hands-on activities to share with students.

Connection to ourselves and our communities are at the heart of these family films. Join us as we wonder: What makes us unique? How are we defined in our own lives and to others? Peeling back the layers of ourselves and our surroundings can let us know how things work and what is important. These family films will inspire you to look beyond the surface to find elements of love, wonder, and support in an ever changing world.

Lily Hevesh – the world’s most acclaimed domino toppler and the only girl
in her field – rises as an artist, role model, and young woman in this documentary. Taught in conjunction with this guide, the film will encourage students to learn about domino art and how it connects to STEAM topics, while also developing their social emotional skills, and broadening their understanding of career and college planning.

Alexis is a 15 year old talented and proud student of the National Ballet School of Cuba. He spends his life practicing chassé and entrechats with his girlfriend and dance partner Yelenia. However, when his parents move to Florida to be reunited with his sister, his happy teenage world is turned upside down. Homesick for his native Cuba and facing the difficulties of assimilation, Alexis must navigate adolescence and immigration as he reaffirms love for ballet and identity as a Cuban in this documentary. Taught in conjunction with this guide, the film will encourage students to learn about Cuban culture and dance, while also developing their social emotional skills