EiE staff often ask elementary teachers what they think about the prospect of teaching their students engineering. The word “terrified” turns up in a striking number of answers. But with the release of the Next Generation Science Standards, and with new science standards being implemented in many states, more teachers are finding they have to confront the terror. And they’re discovering that engineering is a very friendly monster.

 

You’ve heard of the multiplier effect, where an initial investment has a bigger-than-expected result. It works for our national economy, where every dollar spent in the manufacturing sector generates $1.35 in economic activity. It can also work in our schools.

When elementary teachers attend our professional development workshops, we wrap up by asking, “What OTHER resources would be helpful to you?” Teachers often tell us they want a tool that shows exactly what hands-on engineering will look like in their classrooms, and also how lesson materials should be prepared. They ask for videos.

School vacation is almost here. Summer gives middle-school students time to pursue an existing passion or try something new—especially when it comes to STEM.

Katie Friedman knows firsthand what captures a middle-schooler’s interest. She works at the out-of-school time academic program Tutoring Plus in Cambridge, MA, as a Science & Elementary Program Fellow, thanks to a Massachusetts Promise Fellowship. This spring Katie’s group of sixth- through eighth-graders pilot tested a new unit for Engineering is Elementary's new “Engineering Everywhere” out-of-school time curriculum.