News from EiE! New afterschool units, resources for NGSS alignment, more.
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EiE News - July 2015
In this issue: An enhanced NGSS-EiE alignment guide, how to set up an EiE "Reading Rug," new PD providers in the Pacific Northwest, and much more. Thanks to everyone who completed our newsletter survey in June, your feedback helps us grow and improve! From those who responded, we randomly selected three Amazon gift card winners: Christa Andrus, Carolyn Bubois, and Jaime Robbins. Congratulations! —Cynthia Berger, newsletter editor
New Afterschool Units Available!

Just in time for summer camp, check out two new units from Engineering Everywhere (EE), our middle school afterschool curriculum. “It’s About Time” poses a mechanical engineering challenge: Design your own timekeeping device. “Plants to Plastics” is a chemical engineering challenge: Make plastic from eco-friendly plant-based materials 

2016.07.01_Engineering_Everywhere_New_Units_smallEach unit starts with a short video that sets a context for the activities. “Plants to Plastics” takes viewers on a virtual visit to Metabolix, a company that makes bioplastics. “It’s About Time” tours the Electric Time Company, which engineers large clocks for public spaces.

“The new units were a lot of fun to make, and a real team effort,” says curriculum developer Owen Berliner. Like all our afterschool units, they’re available as free downloads on the project website.

Link EiE to NGSS with Our Handy Online Guide

2015.07.01_NGSS_logoHas your state adopted the Next Generation Science Standards? Do you know how the EiE lessons you teach map to these standards? We’ve created an improved NGSS alignment document with the info you need in a concise format.

It’s organized by grade (K – 5), listing the EiE unit (or units) relevant to each performance expectation. For example, if you teach second-graders who are learning about Disciplinary Core Idea 2-LS2 (“Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics), then EiE’s “The Best of Bugs: Designing Hand Pollinators” can help you meet Performance Expectation 2-LS2-2 (“Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.”)

A new appendix helps you identify the EiE units most suitable for each grade, and the rationale for each recommendation. Check it out and let us know what you think! Along with this NGSS guide, we’re also working on enhancing our state-by-state alignment guides. Stay tuned!

​*"Next Generation Science Standards" is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards was involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.”
DC Public Schools Implement EiE

2016.06.18.Tonko_DC_EiE_visit-1The EiE curriculum is part of an ambitious new plan to enhance educational equity in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Starting in fall of 2015, the district will implement “Cornerstone Assignments”—rigorous, engaging learning experiences for grades K – 12 taught in every school in the district.

Six EiE units have been selected for implementation, one for each elementary grade. “The Next Generation Science Standards put new emphasis on engineering, and EiE is great for engaging students in the engineering design process,” says DCPS elementary science specialist Jessica Buono. “One goal within Cornerstones is for students to learn about different cultures,” adds James Rountree, director of science for DCPS. “EiE is enriching that way, too. It also does a really good job making connections to literacy.”

District wide implementation of EiE builds on pilot implementations made possible by support from Raytheon as part of a $2 million award to the Museum of Science, Boston for a far-reaching initiative that has included creating a scalable, self-sustaining model to bring engineering education to area elementary students in three high-needs regions. Support for the Cornerstones initiative comes from a mix of public and private funding.

An EiE team will conduct a workshop this July for a group of DCPS educators who’ll go on to prepare other district teachers to implement EiE. By the end of the 2016 school year, all 22,000 elementary students at 75 DCPS schools will have experience with hands-on engineering.

EiE Tips for Teachers: Add a "Reading Rug!"

2015.07.01.EiE_Reading_RugPatty Whitehouse is the Engineering Lab teacher at Chicago Public Schools' Goudy Technology Academy. Every single student in the first through fourth grades comes through her lab once a week—almost 400 students total. That's a lot of classroom management! 

When kids are working in teams on their engineering design challenges, they don't all finish at the same time, but Patty's got a plan for that: the Reading Rug.

"If a team finishes ten minutes early, once they're cleaned their table, they can go sit on the rug and read," she explains. "I've collected an engineering library with books for third, fourth, and fifth grade, sorted by the topics covered in EiE units. So if we're working on 'Submersibles,' for example, I just pull out my books on ocean animals and they can do extended reading on that topic." Just one more way learning with EiE can support literacy!

Check our unit-specific Literacy Resources lists for books that integrate with EiE lessons. Find more great tips from Patty on the EiE Blog. Do YOU have a tip to share? Please let us know!

Share your Teacher Tip!

EiE PD Network Expands to Pacific Northwest

2016.07.01_EiE_Collaborator_David_HeilWe’re pleased to welcome David Heil and Mia Jackson of Portland, OR as our newest PD collaborators. They’ll facilitate EiE workshops in the Pacific Northwest through their affiliation with the Foundation for Family Science & Engineering (FFSE).

Though Heil and Jackson are new to our PD network, FFSE’s relationship with EiE is longstanding. When the independent nonprofit developed Family Engineering, a program for young children and their families to explore science and engineering together, EiE director Christine Cunningham was a project advisor.

Heil and Jackson developed a unique workshop that engages educators with both EiE AND Family Engineering. “Combining the STEM instruction that happens in school with afterschool and family engagement makes sense,” says Heil. “When kids do science and engineering at home it helps them in schooland vice versa!”

Heil and Jackson have already offered EiE workshops in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington state.

Meet the EiE Team: Ellen Daoust

As a member of EiE’s Videography Team, Ellen Daoust has traveled to eight classrooms in three states, capturing some of the footage you see in our Classroom Videos. “That’s my favorite part of the jobseeing how excited students are to learn in a fun, different way!” she says. “It really validates the mission of EiE and the work I do.”

2015.07.01_EiE__Ellen-DaoustjpgEllen’s interest in videography dates to her childhood in Fitchburg, MA where, using a Christmas-present camcorder, she shot National Geographic-inspired documentaries of squirrels behind her house.

After graduating from Smith College (and before coming to the Museum of Science), Ellen served with AmeriCorps. “The social justice aspect was important for me,” she says. “You live on a poverty wage, which builds empathy for how so many people in America live. And you meet a more diverse set of people than in most jobs.”

EiE team members tend to be multi-talented, and Ellen has some unusual skills thanks to AmeriCorps. For example, to work on wildfire prevention in the Pacific Northwest, she earned a certificate in chainsaw operation.  “I can cut trees up to nine inches in diameter,” she notes.

Learn with EiE! Trusted, Effective Professional Development

We offer hands-on, highly engaging EiE Professional Development WorkshopsCome to one of our sites, or request an EiE facilitator to come to your school or district.

EE_PD-1

Teacher Educator Institutes:  

These intensive three-day workshops certify EiE Professional Development educators. 

Everyone Engineers!

These two-day, hands-on workshops give you the skills to implement EiE in your classroom. Offered at MOS, Boston.

Linking the E & M in STEM

Integrate EiE with Common Core math standards. Offered at MOS, Boston.

Improving Your EiE Practice

 EiE’s newest workshop is for educators who want to take their EiE teaching to the next level.