Under restrictions imposed to help end the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are now working from home or are doing schoolwork online. Parents and teachers are looking for projects that will keep students interested in science as well as help them learn.

The Fiber Optic Association (FOA) has always had free resources for STEM teachers in the K through 12 range inSource: FOA addition to a certification curriculum for technical colleges and professional training. The current need for more online information for students has prompted changes recently to these offerings for teachers.

Some of the FOA fiber optic classroom projects are based on plastic optical fiber (POF) technology. The instructor can use a conventional laser pointer and a sample of POF available from FOA to show how fiber optics communicates using pulses of light. To add to the technical aspects of fiber optics and help teachers create lesson plans that include more theory, including math, sections on the speed of light, wavelengths of light, total internal reflection and wavelength division multiplexing have been added.

The new projects offered primarily target grades 7 through 12, and are also recommended for parent/student projects.