This workshop will focus on ways to help children in the elementary grades (K-5) learn to ask and answer questions, make predictions, gather evidence, find patterns, and communicate their ideas. Through a series of hands-on activities and discussions, participants will explore how to use inquiry-driven, collaborative, and phenomena-based investigations with elementary students, and practice how to set up and run an engineering design challenge. In “student mode,” we will look at ways to encourage children to use scientific tools and attitudes to make connections as they explore the world around them.
In “teacher mode,” participants will reflect on their own experiences with elementary science and consider how to best prepare our next generation of scientists and engineers. By the end of the workshop, participants will deepen their understanding of instructional strategies that support the learning of scientific skills while integrating mathematics, technology, design thinking, literacy, and social studies.