STEM in a Shoebox - Tools for K-12 Outreach

Jacobson, A., Lange, D. and Finger, S.

Faculty, staff and students are often asked to attend outreach events, on and off campus.  Preparation time for such invitations can be limited, so we have created off-the-shelf kits that are catalogued and can be procured through the engineering library.  The 'shoeboxes' contain all of the necessary materials for a demonstration as well as a lesson plan that can be tailored for different age groups. To assure relevancy, feedback on the lesson plan template (complete with NGSS references) has been collected and tested with middle school teachers. Example kits, such as the Ramp Racer will be shared with session participants. Some ‘shoeboxes’ have been created by faculty in cooperation with staff as part of Broader Impacts.  Other kits have been developed in a rapid prototyping class – by eager and enthusiastic students. The rapid prototyping class, developed by Susan Finger, is readily adaptable to other courses that engage a maker space, such as those that educators may have available at their institution.

Annette Jacobson, Chemical Engineering
Deborah Lange, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Susan Finger, Civil & Environmental Engineering