We have a guest post on Classroom Tinkerers and Inventors – A MiddleWeb Blog!
The tools and ethos of the maker revolution offer insight and hope for middle schools. The breadth of options and the “can-do” attitude is exactly what students need, especially girls as this is the age they tend to opt out of science and math. But hands-on making is not just a good idea for girls; all students need challenge and “hard fun” that leads to big ideas and inspires them to dive deeper.
Making science interesting and fun is not pandering to young sensibilities; it honors the learning drive and spirit that is all too often crushed by endless worksheets and boring vocabulary drills. Making is a way of bringing engineering to young learners. Such concrete experiences provide a meaningful context for understanding abstract science and math concepts.