Teacher Training By Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski

Great new ebook out on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) by Ainissa Ramirez, a well-known science evangelist, and material scientist. Ramirez provides sound support for the need to introduce students to STEM learning experiences. We are all born curious, we are all natural scientists. But what happens to that curiosity when we enter the traditional science classrooms? The curiosity is lost, and boredom sets in. Ramirez believes that STEM education provides the answer to inspiring a new generation of scientists. Check out the article by Anna Kuchment in Scientific American with excerpts from Save Our Science: How to Inspire a New Generation of Scientists by Ramirez.

Twenty-five primary teachers spent two days actively engaged in exploring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts via conducting hands-on-minds-on STEM investigations. During the two-day STEM teacher training session conducted by Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski, teachers were immersed in exploring STEM practices and content. Concepts covered during the training included:

• Inquiry-based science practices
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Reflective journaling in the STEM classroom
• Engineering Design Process (designed structures and animal habitats)
• Exploring structure and function in nature and man-made objects
• Engineering principles (teachers implemented the engineering design process during each of the investigations)
• Architectural design (analyzed real-world structures)
• Buoyancy (designed, built and tested a variety of boats)
• Reverse Engineering (using toys)
• Force, motion, and energy concepts (ramp science and more)

The teachers left the training with a new perspective on conducting hands-on-minds-on STEM investigations in their classrooms, that make clear connections to the Common Core, and the Next Generation Science Standards. I truly believe that these teachers were enlightened as well as transformed.

The photos below are from the two-day STEM teacher training conducted by Dr. Diana Wehrell-Grabowski.