The Governor's STEM Initiative has established a regional Advisory Board, comprised of men and women who are committed to advancing promising practices in STEM to improve Iowa's economic future.  Advisory Board member Wade Weber recently volunteered his time to teach robotics to a group of high school students.  Read More.

In my eSTEM-ation, engineering is elementary and elementary kids can engineer, after all.
 
To be honest, if you had asked me three years ago for my perspective on teaching engineering to elementary students, I would have laughed out loud.  Engineering requires a solid understanding of calculus, physics and thermodynamics. Even the most advanced high school students grapple with the abstract concepts of energy and entropy.  So,  how could elementary kids be expected to learn engineering?

Now, however, I am beginning to appreciate that teaching engineering to elementary kids is about designing, building, creating, innovating, questioning, solving and--most importantly--shaping an understanding of the interface between human ingenuity and our fragile planet.

I have seen the STEM-magic that happens in an elementary classroom that is alive with engineering and exploration.  I am now realizing that boys and girls who love engineering while they are still just boys and girls will be motivated to tackle the rigors of physics and calculus when they become young men and women. 

In my eSTEM-ation, engineering is elementary!

Kari Webb
NW Iowa STEM Regional Manager
Iowa Lakes Community College, NW Hub

Nearly thirty teachers in Northwest Iowa are implementing the Boston Museum of Science program, Engineering is Elementary, into their classrooms with a grant from the Governor's STEM initiative.  This nationally recognized program puts kids at the center of the inquiry process:  designing, building and inventing. Learn More.