Our project regularly collaborates with educators across the country to try out early versions of our out-of-school time curriculum units. In 2012, Melissa McCallihan at Mustard Seed School in Hoboken, NJ pilot tested the EA unit Shake Things Up: Engineering Earthquake-Resistant Buildings. Melissa and her afterschool students completed all of the activities and sent us back valuable feedback, which we used to strengthen and improve the engineering experiences of the unit.
This summer, Melissa and her colleague Jen Paffenroth ran the program again with a new batch of students – but this time they used the completed curriculum unit, which is available as a free download on our website. Melissa and Jen tracked their kids’ experiences by posting pictures and updates on their blog. Take a look and relive some of the engineering fun!
“This afterschool program provides excellent STEM education for students who may not get it another way,” Jen says. “Through the materials, the support, the staff, the superb science, the 21st-century skills, and the real-world experience that the students partake in, it makes a meaningful learning opportunity for all students.”