A recent study by the business data company WalletHub ranked Alabama one of the worst states in the nation for quality of K-12 education.

The state has been working hard to change that, though, notably with a plan to improve STEM education through America’s largest and most comprehensive math and science program, the $30-million Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, or AMSTI.  

Recently, we learned that Engineering is Elementary will be part of this initiative, and in a big way. Alabama just adopted new science standards that include engineering practices . . . and EiE was selected as a resource that can help schools meet those standards.

Every Thursday on the EiE Blog, we bring you helpful tips and resources for teaching elementary engineering. 

When my husband was in grad school, working on a degree in education, he wanted to take a couple of computer science courses . . . but they were reserved for computer science majors, which he wasn’t, so he was shut out. Then he discovered you could take the courses if you declared a minor in electrical engineering. Problem solved!

He never drew a schematic diagram or touched a wire or did anything with electricity, he just took programming courses. Today, every time he tapes a frayed electrical cord, he jokes, “I’m not a real electrical engineer, I just play one in this movie.”

If your electrical engineering experience (or lack thereof) is similar to his, and if you’re going to be teaching Engineering is Elementary’s electrical engineering unit (An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits), then maybe you’re feeling . . . well, alarmed! We can help.

November is a busy month for anyone who cares about STEM education in Massachusetts!

On Friday, Nov. 6, the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers holds its annual conference in Boxborough, MA. EiE will be there; you’re invited to join professional development provider Nicole O’Neil at 8am on Nov. 6^th for a session titled “Uniting Engineering and Science: Engineering Design Challenges that Inspire Inquiry.” She’ll take you through an EiE activity where you design a model maglev train.

Each Thursday on the EiE Blog we offer tips for teachers of elementary engineering.

To answer today's question, let's take a look at Lesson 3 of the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) unit Catching the Wind: Designing Windmills. This lesson engages students in designing sails with different shapes from a variety of materials. Once their sail is constructed, kids attach it to a little raft mounted on a track, turn on an electric fan to generate “wind,” and measure how far their raft sails down the track. Often, teachers like to set up more than one sail track, so that testing can proceed faster . . . but then students ask if they can race. Should you let a sailboat race be part of the activity?

See it in action: Watch this lesson!

One of the very first organizations to become part of Engineering is Elementary’s national network of professional development (PD) providers was the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM). Since then, SMM educators have developed an innovative (and highly effective) approach to EiE PD. It’s called an “immersion residency.”

A typical teacher workshop takes you out of your classroom, to attend a training someplace else. With immersion residencies, SMM sends an experienced EiE educator right to your classroom, to teach an EiE curriculum unit over the course of several days while you observe and then co-teach. There’s also time for you to discuss and ask questions. SMM evaluators say this up-close-and-personal approach is getting great results!