STEMOVATE: Powering Tennessee’s Future Innovators
STEMOVATE: Powering Tennessee’s Future Innovators makes STEM fun through hands-on lessons in nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, engineering design and invasive species.
Launched in 22 counties in 2025, STEMOVATE is expanding to 56 Tennessee counties and nearly 20,000 sixth graders in 2026-27.
Led by the University of Tennessee–Oak Ridge Innovation Institute in partnership with Tennessee 4-H, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education and UT-Battelle, the program leverages 4-H’s strong connections with schools to bring engaging, standards-aligned STEM lessons directly to students.
STEMOVATE is just getting started! Plans are underway to expand the program to seventh and eighth grades across Tennessee by 2030.
INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN STEMOVATE?
If you’re a middle school educator and interested in getting involved with the STEMOVATE program in the future, contact Bridget Waller at bwaller@tennessee.edu or 865-466-2649.
Lesson Plans
Build-a-bot: Build your own ai
An introduction to AI and machine-learning principles through an interactive activity, demonstrating AI’s decision-making and learning capabilities without a computer.
Harnessing the Power of Nuclear Energy
In this lesson, students take on the role of junior nuclear scientists as they explore how to harness atomic energy. Students observe a real-world demonstration using a Stirling engine, examine how the U.S. consumes energy and model nuclear reactions through simulations.
calling all thrill-seekers: marble coaster engineering design
Students apply the engineering design process to create a roller coaster that safely guides a marble through hills and loops. This activity enhances understanding of energy conservation and motion, and builds skills in design, teamwork and problem solving.
AGRICULTURE: invasive species
Students explore how an invasive species can disrupt an
ecosystem by examining the relationship between the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) and the Eastern Hemlock, a foundation species in the Appalachian Mountains.
By learning how to collect and average data to study the impacts of invasive species, students practice scientific methods that apply directly to real-world challenges in Tennessee agriculture. These skills prepare them to understand and help address issues that affect the state’s farms, food systems and natural resources.
