EiE’s out-of-school time (OST) curriculum Engineering Everywhere (EE) has two new units that are sure to intrigue and engage middle schoolers in your program. Both units feature cutting-edge topics that track the newest developments in engineering fields:

• Growing Up: Engineering Vertical Farms
• Go Fish: Engineering Prosthetic Tails

OST programs can be the key to holding middle schoolers’ interest in STEM. According to the Afterschool Alliance, the middle school years are a “make-or-break” time for many youth, when students either get excited about learning . . . or get totally turned off, especially about STEM subjects.

When the school day's over, when the pressure’s off, when the activities are hands-on and connected to real-life experiences (as they are in these new units), middle schoolers are more likely to get hooked on the excitement and pleasures of science and engineering.

How do you identify students for gifted and talented services? Most schools look at test scores, even though many educators acknowledge this practice tends to favor white and well-to-do students while excluding qualified students from other populations.

If test scores aren’t the best way to identify talented students, what is? "Engineering is ripe with opportunities for children who have a talent for hands-on tinkering," says Ann Robinson, a researcher at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock who is using the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) curriculum in a study that explores whether talented young students from underrepresented populations can be identified by their achievement in science and engineering. 

Each Thursday on the EiE Blog, we answer your questions or offer teaching tips for your engineering classroom.

Engineering is Elementary is pleased to announce a new set of online resources for K–12 engineering educators: EiE Video Snippets. This collection of short videos can be used in three ways:

• To explore the eight Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practices 
• To see how hands-on engineering develops “engineering habits of mind” that support learning across the curriculum
• To see young children engaged in the five steps of the EiE Engineering Design Process (ASK-IMAGINE-PLAN-CREATE-IMPROVE)

If you’ve spent any time with young children you know they love to ask, “Why?” When a patient adult answers with a thoughtful explanation, that’s a wonderful learning experience!

But depending on the circumstances, there's also great value in deflecting the question back to the child. I got a dramatic reminder of this principle at our Engineering is Elementary (EiE) staff retreat last year.