Forums

Looking for some engineering lessons and resources? We invite you to check out our blog and web site Get Caught Engineering at: http://www.getcaughtengineering.com

We also have a Get Caught Engineering Facebook page that is used to share neat engineering ideas and links on a regular basis. Please "like" us so you get our updates. https://www.facebook.com/GetCaughtEngineering

Wendy and Cheryl, I just visited your website and found the “Resources and References” section to contain some very useful links to to resources I have used over the years with great success. It’s nice to have them so organized and in one place. The website is set up well and definitely catches my attention. I recognize this is a new website and that you have chosen to share the link to it as you are launching it. I am hopeful you will expand your “Lesson and Ideas” section to include more lessons and ideas. You are accomplished teachers as is evidenced by the depth of your experience shared on your “About Us” tab. I look forward to checking back often to see what new items have been added. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

Hi Sandy, Thank you so much for exploring our website. We are currently busy preparing new lessons and activities to be used in the classroom. Be sure to check out our Facebook page since we continually update it as we find new resources and products.

Thanks for the resources Wendy.

http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2013stl/ The NSTA 2013 STEM Forum and Exposition will be held May 15-18 in St Louis, Missouri. There will be many presentations and workshops on STEM and engineering. I was delighted with the wonderful resources available at the 2012 conference. If a reader of this thread attends, please chime in and share engineering resources and perhaps those of us unable to attend will find items uploaded in the conference segment of the learning center available and useful. ~patty

Just added a new blog about a cool STEM resource and a new lesson on our Get Caught Engineering web site, as well as lots of great resources on our Facebook page and Pinterest page. Website: http://www.getcaughtengineering.com And “like” our Facebook page to get continual updates on great engineering resources : Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetCaughtEngineering Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/getcaughtengin/

Hi Wendy, Thank you for sharing resources from your site and referencing other sites. Many of the activities seem as if they can engender interest and support teachers new to the ideas of the engineering process of asking questions and pursuing answers as well as offer ideas for teachers to consider as STEM projects, some new and some recreated within a new package. I am curious about the funding for your site. Is it grant based? ~patty

Thank you for your kind words. Gosh ..a grant to fund the site ...that would be very nice.But no..our site is funded by us and designed by my son and daughter-in-law, who are graphic designers and lend us help when they can. We are still learning WordPress (WordPress for Dummies is my night time reading material)...so it is definitely a work in progress :). We are looking forward to summer break when we can really concentrate on learning how to tweak the format and organization. Meanwhile we rely on our Get Caught Engineering facebook page and Pinterest page to share interesting engineering ideas in a quicker format each day. Keep checking back though, we are adding things on a regular basis.

Thank you so much for your grass-root efforts. You certainly are wonderful agents for change in education. Dedicated, too. I hope it is also fun as well as being a learning endeavor. ~patty

I currently teach STEM and compiled the list below as part of my Graduate Degree Project and NSTA STEM EXPO presentation. Hope they help! 20 Materials Any Teacher Can Acquire to Teach Engineering Material Possible STEM Uses Balloons Propulsion for balloon rockets, propulsion for balloon powered cars, example of elasticity in a material, air source for hover crafts Reclaimed Cardboard from boxes (copier, shipping or cereal) Chassis of vehicles, construction material for structures Paper towel or toilet paper tubes Chassis of vehicles, bases for simple wind turbines, building material for bridges and structures Popsicle sticks Example of a natural/primary material, building material for bridges/catapults/structures, arms for a simple wind turbine Duct tape Affordable adhesive, excellent for joining materials when other tools are not available Empty Water Bottles Containers for hydroponics, chassis for vehicles, material for scale models, specimen cups, decomposition chambers. Demonstration of optical properties of materials Rubber bands Propulsion systems, organizing materials, excellent for demonstration materials, helpful in fastening. Clean foam meat trays/ foam plates Easy to cut, excellent for structures, bridges, chassis of vehicles, design, prototypes Rulers Essential and affordable or printable tool, aids in diagramming, data table making, blueprint design, technical drawing and of course, measurement Manila Folders Sturdy yet easy to fold, perfect for bridge building, multiple construction uses, economical, essential for student portfolios, often available at school, sturdy poster or diagram paper Material Possible STEM Uses Binder Clips Great for connecting sections of bridges, holding together structures, providing a tethering point Newspaper Useful for sails, roll it to make the frame of structures, fold and roll to make bridges, excellent parachute material Your School Building Your building is indeed an essential material. Go on tours, point out or have students find key features. Discuss tradeoffs in the building. Zip Ties Sturdy fastener Eggs Excellent to use in testing parachutes, sailing boats, cars and crash survival systems Twine Use for fastening, zip lines, affixing parachutes Straws Useful for vehicle chassis, construction of bridges and structures Toothpicks Useful for bridge and structure building Ziploc Bags Seal eggs in them before testing, use as sails or parachutes, make a hydroponic garden, create mixtures in them Bottle Caps Use as mini-vehicles in a rail system, wheels, weights

Get Caught Engineering is a guest blogging on children's engineering and STEM this week on Laura Candler's Corkboard Connection blog. http://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2013/06/engineering.html

This site was shared recently in a discussion of PD programs/ courses geared toward getting STEM and engineering into elementary classes. http://www.eie.org/ It identifies engineering goals for the lower grades and offers some interesting lessons in many subject areas. What makes this site interesting, to me, is that the content of the lessons reflects standards that already are present in most classes; so teachers wishing to highlight STEM and engineering are not faced with situations in which they have to balance one learning goal against another within a specified curriculum. 'Traditional' lessons may be enhanced with the addition of the engineering cycle and extending lessons already taught with engineering questions. The lessons seem to have an additional positive nature by engaging students in activities that may lead them to confront incorrect preconceptions or to evaluate their own ideas and recognizing that some may be wrong. It is O.K. to be incorrect. Take that input and ask another question and carry on with the inquiry!

We have used Engineering is Elementary units in our classroom and they are terrific. We highly recommend them!!! (eie.org) You can purchase just the manual or the manual and kit of materials. We find that we usually already have most of the materials for the unit or can easily find what we need, so we have only purchased a few materials kits.

That is great input, Wendy! Thank you. ~patty

This post and the various contributions are very timely...with the advent of common core and ngss...very timely. Thanks all!