Plant Growth and Development

Overview STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.  There is much concern about increasing community, teacher, and student awareness about the need to improve STEM education in the United States.  A report by the National Academy of Sciences, “Rising Above the Gathering Storm,” demonstrates the need for increased partnerships, participation and communication to improve student achievement in science and math, as well as increase interest in jobs related to math, science, technology and engineering. Corridor Stem Initiative One local effort to increase student proficiency and interest in these academic areas is the Corridor STEM Initiative (CSI).  The Corridor STEM Initiative consists of superintendents from five Corridor school districts and Cedar Rapids Metro Catholic Schools, Grant Wood Area Education Agency (GWAEA), Kirkwood Community College, The University of Iowa, Rockwell Collins, Alliant Energy, the Iowa City Chamber of Commerce, and the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce.  The groups involved in this initiative aim to increase understanding of our country’s need to provide quality math, science and technology for all learners, prepare all citizens with necessary skills in each of these areas to be successful in the workplace, and promote both the number and the quality of teachers in these areas. You can visit the CSI website to learn more: http://www.corridorstem.org Engineering Is Elementary Engineering Is Elementary (EiE) is one example of curriculum that can help increase student interest, understanding and application of science knowledge and engineering.  It was developed in conjunction with the National Center for Technological Literacy at the Museum of Science, Boston.  The curriculum goals include increasing technological literacy (skills and knowledge) and increasing educators’ ability to teach engineering and technology with elementary-age children.  EiE curriculum also has ties to literacy, social studies and mathematics.  You can learn more about Engineering Is Elementary curriculum at: http://www.mos.org/eie/ To view overviews of the current EIE units and related science topics, visit http://www.mos.org/eie/20_unit.php To see the correlations between EIE units and science framework units, click here. Please contact the VAST Center if you are interested in actually previewing the Engineering Is Elementary curriculum.