Professional Reading
NAEYC: Building Bridges to Understanding (pdf)
STEM in the Block Center: a step-by-step exploration encouraging children to think like engineers including information abut the importance of play, gross and fine motor development and children’s collaboration and communication.
NAEYC: Ten Things Children Learn From Block Play
Simple blocks are an ideal tool to help young children learn about building.
Engineering is Elementary: Engineering Processes for Young Children (blog)
A report on Engineering Design Processes for young children: EXPLORE (Find Out More), CREATE (Try and Idea), IMPROVE (Make It Better).
For school-age children
archkidecture.org
archKIDecture: School age exploration. Projects: Geodesic Dome, Sand Castle, Toothpick Structures
Next Generation Science Standards
Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard—or performance expectation—and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time. The three dimensions are: Cross-Cutting Concepts, Science and Engineering Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas.