Last week, in partnership with the Massachusetts STEM Advisory Council and the Executive Office of Education, we celebrated Mass STEM Week 2020 with you!
We offered a full schedule of events including office hours with the Museum of Science and EiE team, mentoring sessions with Engineers and Scientists from across the state of Massachusetts, and a celebration webinar featuring Massachusetts’ Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and Secretary of Education James Peyser.
Read more to learn about or find recordings of the Engineering Design Challenges, Engineer and Scientist Mentor sessions, and Mass STEM Week Celebration Webinar.
Engineering Design Challenges
All three of our challenges were created following the standards set by the United Nations Clean Water and Sanitation Sustainable Development Goals and in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Public Works, so learners can see how their lessons apply locally!
For PreK through Grade 2:
Two of our incredible team members, Lesley Kennedy and Lorri Coates, took the lead on developing an engaging design challenge for little learners to get hands-on experience learning to be engineers!
Students in this age group designed and created a living habitat for a turtle, with a wet and dry area for paper cut-out turtles to bask in. Over the course of four lessons, learners explored contextual background with the Museum of Science’s Live Animal Care Center, created and tested their habitats. With hands-on examples, they also tested and re-imagined their solutions based on their experiment.
Learn more about this engineering design challenge from the Museum of Science and EiE developers by viewing this PreK-Grade 2 educator webinar.
Click here for more information and access the PreK-Grade 2 design challenge by creating an account at learn.eie.org!
For Grades 3 through 5:
The talented Amanda Glover (@AGlover4EDU) thoughtfully created the design challenge for learners in Grades 3 through 5, focusing on manipulatives found at home and problem-solving skills!
For their design challenge, learners in Grades 3 through 5 will follow the engineering design process to discover how pollution impacts water systems in their city! Following the engineering design process, these lessons will use household items to help design solutions around different types of water pollution and, using those same types of materials, reusing and recycling items to be able to plan and create new solutions.
Learn more about this engineering design challenge from the Museum of Science and EiE developers by viewing this Grades 3-5 educator webinar.
Click here to find more information and access the PreK-Grade 2 design challenge by creating an account at learn.eie.org!
For Grades 6 through 8:
In conjunction with our educational development team, Adrian Melia created a brilliant challenge for older learners with more complex problems to solve and covering more advanced engineering principles.
Learning from engineers from the Department of Public Works, learners in grades 6-8 learned the context of local water systems, including how reservoirs and sewage systems work. Then, using the engineering design process, tested how various materials react to water and develop a water transportation and filtration system. After examining their results, learners had an opportunity to improve their designs and re-test, with new insights into infrastructure and city planning!
Learn more about this engineering design challenge from the Museum of Science and EiE developers by viewing this Grades 6-8 educator webinar.
Click here for more information and access the PreK-Grade 2 design challenge by creating an account at learn.eie.org!
Engineer and Scientist Mentor Sessions
Throughout Mass STEM Week Engineers and Scientists from across the entire state of Massachusetts partnered with the Museum of Science and EiE to host 9 separate mentoring webinar sessions- from Public sectors such as Quincy to Chelmsford, Framingham to Newton, Braintree to Auburn many Cities and Townships represented their local Water Departments.
We also had other amazing partners from Massachusetts Department of Environment Protection, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Northeastern University, Weston & Sampson, and Tighe & Bond who each volunteered virtually this week to mentor with participating classes totaling 4.5 hours of their time and expertise!
Each session this week was a unique opportunity to gain insights about our design challenges which engaged learners in the real-world problems centering around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of: Clean water and sanitation, Sustainable cities and communities, Life below water, and Life on land.
Click the time to view the recorded mentoring session webinar:
Tuesday, 10/20
Thursday, 10/22
Mass STEM Week Celebration Webinar
The work we've done during Mass STEM Week was highlighted in the Celebration Webinar on Friday, October 23 at 2:00pm. We came together to thank the Mass STEM Advisory Council as well as Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito and Secretary of Education James Peyser for their support and advocacy for STEM education.
View the 30 minute recording here and invite your learners to have a watch party!
For more information about Mass STEM Week 2020, click here. Don’t forget to follow us and use the hashtag #MASTEMEiE for more resources and a chance to be spotlighted on our social media!
