All it takes is one pivotal moment in a student’s life to inspire a lifetime of learning or a future vocation.
In this episode of Authentic Educators, our guest is Dr. Ben Finio, the Lead Staff Scientist for Science Buddies, a nonprofit that designs STEM exercises for students K-12. Our conversation focuses on an incredible project he works on which challenges students to design various structures using basic building blocks. This year’s challenge is a Ball Run; prior years’ challenges include a Rocket Catcher and Rubber Band Car challenge.
In the episode, Dr. Finio fondly recalls a moment in his education when he got to build a structure out of toothpicks. This key moment in his educational journey helped inspire his pursuit of engineering in college.
The engineering challenge doesn’t take a ton of class time and is suitable for K-12 educators.
