Keep Youth Interacting
STEM activities should be engaging, interactive and hands-on experiences for youth. But what happens when members of a group are not interacting? As you watch this video, pay close attention to how the facilitators work with a group if members become disengaged.
As you watch the skill video below, think about these questions:
- What does the staff member do to give the group direction? Listen for the supportive but firm voice of the adult, as she re-directs the group.
- Pay special attention to how staff listen, maintain a supportive attitude, and model effective collaboration skills.
- What strategies do you see that encourage group interaction?
Now that you’ve watched the video, reflect on what you saw and post your responses.
- What are important strategies youth need to know in order to work together collaboratively?
- What are roadblocks youth can hit when they don’t know how to work together collaboratively during STEM?
- What did you like about how staff modeled working together in groups during STEM? What would you do differently?
- What other strategies could staff use to encourage collaboration during this activity?
Explore Engineering Practices
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Making Meaning from STEM Learning
To make STEM experiences meaningful, youth need to make the STEM learning personal. Staff use “provocations” and “plussing” to challenge youth to think of new ideas based on what they have discovered while creating an object that can fly out of a wind tunnel.
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Designing Enrichment Toys for Zoo Animals
Engineers design solutions to specific, real-world problems. Sometimes these solutions involve a specific client or need. Here, youth design a toy to engage a particular zoo animal in play.
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Real-World Modeling of the Engineering Process
Youth are guided through an engineering challenge with real engineers, modeling the engineering process. Watch as the lead engineer encourages the youth to work through the challenge by using engineering practices.