Johns Hopkins University: Frontiers in Science and Medicine

Take 600 eighth-grade students, give them lab coats and gloves, add a scosh of slime and measure their racing hearts. Add in some creativity prompts and you get "STEM-spiration."

Amid the excitement of monitoring their own heartrates, checking out VR modeling and learning about innovations in biotechnology, there was a moment of calm at the Edge of Yesterday, where students were invited to draw, doodle or write about their own goals and passions.