TeachEngineering Adds Video, Maker Challenges
TeachEngineering, a searchable online library of more than 1,400 teacher-tested activities and lessons developed for use in STEM classrooms, just got a makeover. Improvements include videos, Maker challenges, alignment with Common Core math and Next Generation science standards, and “Sprinkles” – abbreviated versions of popular activities designed for use in after-school programs.
Filed under: Web Resources | Comments Off on TeachEngineering Adds Video, Maker Challenges
Tags: afterschool activities, Class Activities, Common Core mathematics, Design, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, hands-on activities, Internet Resources, Lesson Plan, maker challenges, Next Generation Science Standards, Resources for Teachers, searchable STEM library, standards, teachengineering, Videos, Web Resources
What does it mean for fourth graders to plan and carry out investigations? How can you help students develop engineering habits of mind? Engineering is Elementary’s new “video snippets” lets teachers see what integrated STEM and Next Generation Science Standards look like in real classrooms.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the groups that helped develop the Next Generation Science Standards is seeking science teachers to field-test multiple-choice items for a 45-minute assessment on energy in March, April, or May of 2015.
In this activity, high school juniors and seniors learn such core chemistry concepts as reaction rates and thermodynamics by making and demonstrating their own Harry Potter-style “magic wands” (sparklers). The lab, which also can serve as a fun Advanced Placement course review, concludes with a class duel between wands of two different chemical compositions. 
MIT BLOSSOMS, a blended-learning consortium for high school STEM educators, houses a video library with more than 100 free science, engineering, and math lessons taught by experts in the field – and searchable by national and state standards, grade level, and content.
In this first of eight activities, students in grades 6 – 8 learn about the engineering design process and earth science by beginning to design an underground cavern that can shelter people for one year after an asteroid strike makes Earth uninhabitable.
On May 24, Rhode Island became the first state to approve the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Kentucky’s state board of education followed on June 5. Both are among the 26 states that helped develop the new academic standards, which include engineering design as a stand-alone strand.
Three years, two drafts, and many comments later, the much-anticipated final set of Next Generation Science Standards was released on April 9. They emphasize cross-cutting concepts and “storylines” such as energy or Earth’s systems over specific content, and include engineering design and practices. If adopted by states, many of which helped develop the common standards, the NGSS could mark a sea change in the way science is taught across disciplines and grades. 
