Every Thursday on the EiE blog, we share tips or resources for classroom teachers.

Do you teach the Engineering is Elementary unit “No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces”? Great news: We’ve just added a complete set of Classroom Videos for this unit to our online EiE video library!

Whether you’re new to teaching EiE, or an experienced elementary engineering teacher who wants to brush up on the unit before you teach it this semester, our online videos are a great resource. They let you what see what each lesson looks like in a real classroom.

On a sunny day this past August, the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) classroom at the Museum of Science, Boston was filled with laughter as elementary teachers from schools across Massachusetts tested the tabletop towers they'd built from index cards. Could such lightweight constructions support a small stuffed animal?

The exercise was one component of “Everyone Engineers,” a workshop that introduces educators to the EiE curriculum. We host similar workshops all year round, but this one was special: All of the participants were here as scholarship recipients, selected through a competitive process to receive everything they needed to implement EiE in their classrooms . . . including this professional development experience.

The 20 scholarships awarded this summer were made possible thanks to a grant from the technology company Oracle to the Museum’s National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL®), where EiE is based. [For a complete list of Oracle - EiE scholarship recipients, click HERE.]

The popular 1980s TV show “MacGyver” featured a spy who was also an engineer. Facing mortal danger, he’d save the day by creatively repurposing everyday objects, making a sling shot from a bicycle inner tube, or a signal parachute from a ski pole and a handkerchief.

Recently on the blog, we shared the news that a MacGyver for the new millennium is in the works—a TV show loosely based on the original, but featuring a woman engineer.  

But you don’t have to wait for the show! In the world of engineering education, there are quite a few MacGyvers. Today, meet Belinda Kinney, an instructional specialist with the Plano Independent School District (PISD) in Texas.

What are you watching? TV producers keep churning out the usual shows about cops, lawyers, doctors, and politicians. But sometimes a girl wants to settle in with a bowl of popcorn and some characters she can REALLY identify with. I'm talking scientists and engineers.

Sure, I could watch Discovery Channel-type documentaries. But I’m yearning for a smart, Sorkin-style drama, with fast-talking charismatic protagonists not all of whom are white males solving ripped-from-the-headlines problems thanks to their STEM knowledge and skills.

I may get my wish, because a contest to identify the next MacGyver is underway. And this time, Mac will be a woman.

Calling all Massachusetts afterschool educators!  You can bring fun, hands-on engineering activities to your elementary program this fall. Apply today for an Engineering Adventures scholarship.

The 2015 scholarships are made possible by a $37,000 award from the innovative philanthropy SheGives Boston to our parent organization, the Museum of Science, Boston. Each scholarship award includes everything you need to implement EiE’s Engineering Adventures (EA) curriculum: educator guide, materials kit, and an invitation to a three-hour professional development workshop here at the Museum of Science.