Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising tool for transforming science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, yet its adoption in K–12 classrooms remains uneven and often limited to short-term pilots. While prior studies highlight VR’s potential to increase engagement and support conceptual understanding, questions persist about scalability, sustainability, and equity in implementation. This paper addresses these gaps by synthesizing recent scholarship and proposing a structured framework of best practices for integrating VR into K–12 STEM education. Drawing on academic literature, U.S. policy reports, and case studies, we identify persistent challenges that include high costs, lack of teacher preparation, infrastructure disparities, and overlooked accessibility concerns. We use these findings to inform a phased implementation roadmap. Our framework emphasizes assessment and planning, technical integration, teacher preparation, student implementation, and iterative evaluation, providing actionable strategies for schools and districts. Results of this synthesis indicate that successful VR adoption requires coordinated attention to pedagogy, funding, professional development, and equity. We conclude that moving VR from isolated novelty projects to sustainable and equitable tools in STEM classrooms depends on aligning technology with curricular goals, investing in teacher pipelines, and embedding VR within long-term evaluation and improvement cycles.

Supercritical transesterification has emerged as a readily available alternative for biodiesel production since no catalyst is required, thereby generating fewer waste products. In this research, the supercritical transesterification of refined vegetable oil and aqueous ethanol was carried out at temperatures 400 to 480 °C and a 12:1 ethanol to oil molar ratio, to assess the effect of temperature and residence time in the formation of a homogeneous phase, effluent appearance and increased water content derived from glycerol etherification. The results showed that water was produced at temperatures higher than 400 °C, as expected from the occurrence of glycerol etherification, and that prolonged times resulted in gas and soot formation, indicating esters decomposition. Through water mass balances, it was possible to identify the set of operation conditions in which the water formed from glycerol etherification matched with the maximum expected according to the proposed reaction scheme.

La desertificación es el resultado acumulado de un contexto climático difícil y de la utilización inapropia- da de la tierra. La recuperación de suelos desertificados comprende todas las actividades que mejoran las tierras de las zonas áridas, semiáridas y subhúmedas secas, con miras a un desarrollo sostenible. Siendo la pérdida de fertilidad del suelo una de las consecuencias más críticas de la desertificación, se hace in- dispensable el estudio y la adopción de estrategias encaminadas a prevenir y rehabilitar las tierras deser- tificadas. En el presente artículo, se hace una revisión de estas estrategias, con el objetivo de identificar, reunir, analizar y discutir el conocimiento existente sobre cada una. Se inicia con una revisión de los con- ceptos, causas y consecuencias ecológicas, económicas y sociales de la desertificación. Seguidamente se presentan las estrategias de prevención y rehabilitación sobre las cuales se han realizado investigaciones, incluyendo estrategias de adaptación y, finalmente, un análisis de las mismas.