Alcoa and Lubrizol Foundations Sponsor First STEM Competition In Cleveland Metropolitan Schools
A World In Motion® (AWIM) has been providing a quality, hands-on STEM curriculum to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) 5th grade students for over 10 years. The AWIM curriculum is now part of the scope sequence of CMSD’s science curriculum. Every year more and more of the CMSD teachers are choosing to use AWIM in their classrooms. Generous support from the Alcoa and Lubrizol Foundations is making it possible to reach more students and provide teacher professional development opportunities each year. Traditionally, CMSD teachers have used the JetToy Challenge, but this year Straw Rockets was implemented with great success. As part of the Straw Rockets Challenge students explore the early life of Dr. Robert Goddard while reading the biography, The Rocket Age Takes Off. After investigating Goddard’s early trials and tribulations in creating the first liquid fueled rocket engine, students begin to uncover the work necessary to optimize a design with the goal of creating a straw rocket that flies the farthest and highest.
On Friday May 1st students from all around CMSD gathered at the East Professional Building to showcase their straw rocket design and compete against other students’ designs. Students were given an hour to work in their teams to design three rockets. Students made decisions about nose weights, tail wings and straw size and then tested the three rockets. After lunch the students competed to see which teams design could go the farthest with the most accuracy. Team 11 from Tremont Montessori came in as the grand champions with both the greatest distance and accuracy.
“AWIM has truly made a difference in attitudes, behaviors and academic success of our student in CMSD. This competition was a fun way to bring student’s learning full circle and get them more excited about STEM subjects,” said Terri Lyles, Science Curriculum Director for CMSD.
“Alcoa and Lubrizol understand that A World In Motion’s carefully crafted curriculum based on the Engineering Design Experience secures a learning process that instills problem solving and the skills of working in teams, communication, analytical thinking and data analysis that will facilitate lifetime learning and career success,” commented Lori Gatmaitan, Director, SAE Foundation.
About the SAE Foundation
The SAE Foundation, strives to encourage and increase student participation and achievement in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). As the only organization with a comprehensive continuum of “pre-K through College” STEM education programs, we help students succeed, educators excel and corporations meet their workforce, business and social responsibility goals. The Foundation accomplishes this “Total STEM Solution” programming, including awards and scholarships by supporting three distinct programs: A World In Motion® (pre-K-8th ), F1 In Schools™ (9th-12th) and the Collegiate Design Series™. These programs build knowledge by using the Engineering Design Experience (EDE) for an integrated STEM education experience that teaches student to fearlessly use problem solving as a way of learning. www.saefoundation.org
About AWIM
SAE International’s A World In Motion® (AWIM) is a teacher-administered, industry volunteer-assisted program that brings science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to life in the classroom for students in pre-kindergarten through grade 8. Benchmarked to the national education standards, AWIM uses an integrated approach to STEM education incorporates all STEM subject areas, as well as, subjects outside STEM. Students exposed to the AWIM experience are twice as likely to take STEM related subjects in high school and beyond.
About SAE International
SAE International is a global association committed to being the ultimate knowledge source for the engineering profession. By uniting over 137,000 engineers and technical experts, we drive knowledge and expertise across a broad spectrum of industries. We act on two priorities: encouraging a lifetime of learning for mobility engineering professionals and setting the standards for industry engineering. We strive for a better world through the work of our philanthropic SAE Foundation, including programs like A World in Motion® and the Collegiate Design Series™.