WHEN:  May 21, 2014 6:00-6:30 pizza and socializing,

6:30-8:30 Mia will present her workshop

ENGINEERING A STORY

WHO:  LEAP staff and the Lincoln community

Babysitting will be available here at LEAP.

Please sign up by May 16, 2014

Engineering a Story*

The Engineering a Story is a great program to engage PK-8 teachers in the integrative nature of STEM. Designed specifically for educators of all subjects, this workshop offers a hands-on approach to weaving together literacy with engineering practices & thinking skills. The collection of methods presented in the program leads to an enriched literary experience coupled with a gain of engineering concepts. The program is aligned with the Common Core and the NGSS.

Tentative agenda (two-hour workshop)

Introduction to engineering

• Why teach engineering practices?
• The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and engineering practices
• What do engineers do? How to establish positive messaging about engineers?
• The engineering design process, make it your own!

Engineering a story

• Identify problems in a children’s book
• The brainstorming process
• Categorizing solutions
• Defining constraints and choosing solutions
• Sharing solutions and providing feedback to other teams

Closing

• Modifications for engineering stories in after school and informal settings
• Ideas from other teachers/parents

* This program is an adaptation of Engineering Lens, a program created by Bill Wolfson http://www.integratingengineering.org/

Mia Dubosarsky – Bio

Mia Dubosarsky is the Director of Professional Development at WPI’s STEM Education Center. In her role she develops and conducts STEM themed professional development programs for a variety of audiences: from preschool teachers learning how to integrate engineering practices with literacy, to school district principals and superintendents working to develop a strategic plan for integrating STEM into their districts. Mia also serves as an adjunct faculty at Lesley University’s Science in Education program, teaching a course titled Assessment for Learning in the Science Classroom.

Prior to her work at the WPI and Lesley, Mia was part of a team who worked to support teachers from a Native American Reservation in developing culturally based science and math activities.

In her earlier years as a science educator Mia founded and managed for seven years a science enrichment enterprise to which she developed a two-year program comprised of science stories, games and experiments. She was appointed by the Israeli Ministry of Education to design the science program for an Art & Science center for elementary school children.

Mia received a BA in Biology from Israel’s Institute of Technology (Technion) and a doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction (science education) from the University of Minnesota.