Star Wars have been one of the biggest movies that have crawled its way into pop culture and even inspiring kids to get interested in science. The Northern Illinois University STEM program uses the popularity of the film to spark interest in young students. "Everyone loves ‘Star Wars,’ and we’re using the allure of it to get kids thinking about STEM fields,” Benson, STEM educator says.
STEM is an acronym for science, technology, engineering, math, and NIU's STEM educators offer several exciting classes throughout the year. In one class, Star Wars is the theme making it one of the best-attended. The STEM outreach program holds classes every Saturday for those interested to be literate of science and technology in general.
Benson states that since STEM fields are offering countless emerging jobs, it’s a good idea for kids to have the "basic knowledge on how to operate in a world where there will be even more technology.” Amelia Weingarz, 8, was among the 20 students who learned all about the science behind the “Star Wars” films on one of the STEM classes, the Daily Chronicle says. Now, she couldn’t think of anything she'd rather do on a weekend than create her own droid, appreciate 3-D images through a hologram projector and develop her very own lightsaber.
According to the Stuff.co.nz, this ability of the sci-fi classic to captivate the imagination of young thinkers is the reason behind the recent physics breakthrough research from Australian National University. The iconic hologram from Princess Leia sparked the inspiration of team leader Lei Wang, and Dr Sergey Kruk, to create a device that produces the best-quality holographic images ever seen, which could be used in slimming down bulky optical equipment on space craft and satellites. "As a child, I learned about the concept of holographic imaging from the Star Wars movies," Wang says.
