Wow, 2024 has been an unforgettable year! From launching our inaugural Vernier Trendsetters Community cohort and witnessing a total solar eclipse alongside educators across the path of totality, to welcoming Jill Hedrick as our new CEO, we’ve celebrated many milestones. This year also saw the release of exciting new tools, including the Cart Fan, Go Direct^® Force Plate, Go Direct Salinity Sensor, and Go Direct Soil Moisture Sensor!

As we wrap up 2024, we want to thank our readers for engaging with and sharing our posts and the amazing educators and partners who contributed their stories through interviews, guest posts, and more. Have a cool STEM project or success story at your school? Share it with us—we’d love to highlight it in the new year!

To celebrate, we’re revisiting five of our most popular blog posts that inspired and resonated with the STEM education community this year.

1. Exploring Light through Spectroscopy: Two Engaging Experiments for Chemistry Classes

Move over, Beer’s law! In this blog post, we share two hands-on spectroscopy experiments that you can use to investigate principles of light with your students: exploring the electromagnetic spectrum with light bulbs and using flame tests to investigate atomic theory. 

2. An Experiment to Help Students Understand Ocean Acidification through pH

While the link between fossil fuel emissions and climate change is well documented, the impact of excess CO₂ on the world’s oceans is equally concerning but less visible. We share a video resource you can use to contextualize ocean acidification, along with an experiment where students use the Go Direct pH Sensor to measure how dissolved CO₂ affects the pH of water.  This hands-on investigation is a great way for biology, chemistry, or environmental science classes to explore the science behind ocean acidification.

3. Four Laws, One Sensor: Introducing Students to Gas Laws Using the Go Direct Gas Pressure Sensor

From predicting weather patterns to optimizing car engines, understanding gas behavior is not just crucial for chemistry class—but for many real-world situations. This blog post introduces ways to teach your students Boyle’s law, Gay‑Lussac’s law, Charles’ law, and Avogadro’s law using the versatile Go Direct Gas Pressure Sensor.  

4. Three Ready-to-Use 3D Physics Investigations to Maximize Impact with Vernier Sensors

Vernier Trendsetter and high school physics teacher Nick Watkins shares three hands-on, physics experiments that engage students in three-dimensional science learning. Using sensors from the Physics Go Direct Standard Package, Nick demonstrates creative approaches and DIY solutions to help you make the most of your classroom tools—whether you have a full set or just one. 

5. Five Trailblazing Female Asian American & Pacific Islander Scientists with Impactful STEM Legacies

Celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to STEM fields! This post highlights five influential AAPI women whose achievements you can share with your students, along with a few experiment ideas to connect with their research.

Got a STEM story to tell? We want to hear from you! Submit an idea or share how you’re using Vernier tools in the classroom or lab to our team at blog@vernier.com or 888-837-6437.