Engineering Adventures, our flexible engineering curriculum for grades 3-5, helps kids learn and practice 21st century skills  as they collaborate, communicate, solve problems, and share their solutions with their peers while embarking on the Engineering Design Process. Our newest unit, In Good Hands: Engineering Space Gloves, challenges learners to engineer gear for NASA astronauts!

To develop the 21st century skills all learners need to succeed in school and life, we must foster digital literacy and computational thinking skills. That’s why we’re expanding students’ STEM knowledge with brand new computer science units, designed to integrate with existing Engineering is Elementary units. To ensure that these units will work for all learners, we’re seeking elementary educators who are interested in pilot testing them in their own classrooms. In exchange for your feedback, materials and a stipend will be provided.

Over the past three years, a partnership between EiE and MathWorks, the Natick-based software company, has helped teachers across Massachusetts gain the confidence and skills they need to implement integrated STEM. We’re thrilled that MathWorks sees the importance of showing young learners that anyone can solve problems and be an engineer, and that the company continues to support initiatives that fund professional development experiences and materials that will help educators create a generation of problem solvers for years to come.

How can you make engineering even more fun? Try it out with the whole family! Educators often tell us amazing stories about students that began engineering in the classroom, then took it upon themselves to bring their designs home and improve them with the help of family and friends. When students take their engineering work home, they become the experts. They can impress their families with their knowledge of engineering, technology, and the Engineering Design Process, and they might even teach their parents something new! We compiled a list of four units with simple and fun testing procedures that use materials students can find at home or transport easily from the classroom. If you’re looking for a fun, hands-on way to get families involved in students’ STEM lessons, these units are the perfect way to keep the learning going after the school day ends!

How much do you know about engineering? Think you can spot common misconceptions about the field of engineering? 

One of EiE’s design principles is to set all of our units in a real-world context to give students an idea of what engineers really do. Because of this, we’re constantly finding connections to our units in the news and in viral videos. But nothing makes us happier than hearing about EiE educators who make local and global connections in their own classrooms! We’re always blown away by the creative ways that educators inspire their students, and today we wanted to share some of their stories with you.