Teachers take part in the "Tower Power" lesson at a summer EiE training.
For the past two years, teachers have taken a brief break from their summer vacations to attend EiE trainings conducted by the Museum of Science’s professional development team.
Kindergarten through fifth grade teachers received hands-on training and learned new and exciting methods to bring STEM education to the classroom.
Select teachers also attended training at the Museum of Science in Boston in summer 2022 to receive additional training on implementing EiE lessons.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Kari Davis, a teacher at Clear Creek who went on the trip. “The amount of knowledge and information that was shared prepared me to teach EiE lessons at Clear Creek. It’s exciting to see students learning valuable skills and having fun at the same time.”
During these trainings, teachers participate in the same lessons as their students.
For example, each session started with the “Tower Power” lesson. With just index cards and masking tape, teachers were tasked with constructing a tower over a certain height that can hold up a small stuffed animal. It’s a simple example of the engineering design process in action, with the five steps – ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve – all considered.
Nicole King’s class at Brownsville tried this lesson at the start of the year, and it left her students largely frustrated.
However, students learned more about what goes into the mind of an engineer and the design process throughout the year. When they did the same experiment again later in the year, they were ready to build their towers without frustration.
“It was a complete change,” King said. “The students were able to work together, they had creative solutions, and had a blast. Even though there were mistakes they were able to laugh about it and learn from it.”
The EiE curriculum and these trainings are made possible due to an EiE Project grant from the Department of Education and an Elementary STEM project grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA).
This story is a part of a series on how EiE is aiding STEM education in Central Kitsap School District. To read the full series, click here.