Friends, I’m excited to share that my latest project is now live! It’s Good to Be Smart! is a STEM podcast created for young adolescents (middle school and early high school) to help boost their knowledge about science and technology topics.

Season one is all about topics related to the chemical make-up of creation: atoms, molecules, elements, compounds, chemical reactions, the periodic table, and more. The goal is to explain the big ideas in a clear, straightforward, and memorable way, using relatable examples and fascinating facts to help hook kids’ imagination.

You can subscribe to It’s Good to Be Smart! on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music. You can also listen directly on Podbean, the podcasting app I use to host the show.

While I’m hoping that kids will enjoy listening to this one on their own, I also hope this project will be a blessing for science teachers. Thinking back to the things I would have benefitted from as a novice science teacher, I’ve created instructional materials to support each episode. If you head over to goodtobesmart.com you can find resources including a script for each episode, a thinksheet for each episode to prompt reflection and discussion, and an alignment chart so you can see how each episode connects to the NGSS standards.

Because this project is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the podcast and all of these resources are provided 100% free for teachers and students. You can access all of these materials for free at goodtobesmart.com. And, of course, here’s the legal stuff, for full disclosure:

• The development of It’s Good to Be Smart! is supported by a Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant. These materials are based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (DUE-2243334). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

I already have ideas for a couple more seasons that I’m hoping to develop and release yet this spring, but if you have ideas for a topic for a season, please leave a comment to share your ideas. They just might become a future season!

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As I wrap up this special edition, I have three requests, friends:

1. If you’re willing, would you give a couple of episodes a listen? Early downloads help boost the show in the algorithms of the different podcast apps.

2. If you do listen, would you consider leaving a rating or review in your podcast app? That’s a relatively small thing that actually makes a big difference for getting the show more attention.

3. If you have a teen in your life who might like some science-y stuff, maybe share this with them? And especially if you have a middle or high school science teacher in your life, please pass this post along to them. I would really, REALLY appreciate it!

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I’m hopeful that this whole project will be a big help for boosting science learning, practicing playfulness, and resourcing teachers for their work. Your support and encouragement means a lot to me, friends. Thanks a bunch!