A project entitled 'Animated STEAM Stories for Chinese Learning' is conducted by The Education University of Hong Kong. It comprises different episodes classified into five themes: Plants and Insects, Energy, Environmental Protection, Science (Physics), and Chinese Culture. The series features the life stories and anecdotes of ten prestigious scientists – Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, James Watt, Thomas Edison, Rachel Carson, Isaac Newton, Archimedes, Bi Sheng, Lu Ban, and Su Song – and shows how these great scientific minds tackled the challenges of their times.
The project provides a learning package and follow-up learning and teaching materials to develop children's Chinese reading literacy. The package includes diversified instructional materials for teachers and parents to help increase students' interest in reading and scientific inquiry.
The animation series encompasses ten video stories, each about five minutes long. Narration is available in Cantonese, Putonghua, and English for all ten episodes, each complemented by instructional materials, worksheets, learning activity booklets, and teaching aids. The lesson plans present various exploratory activities, helping students develop logical thinking, problem-solving skills, and positive values.
The animations and extended learning resources have been uploaded to the project website (https://steam.eduhk.modernedu.hk/), with free access for schools and the general public.