Application details are now available for Computer Science is Elementary. The project will transform six high-poverty elementary schools across Iowa into models of innovative computer science instruction by the 2020-2021 school year. A growing number of jobs require computer science skills. This program will help prepare students for success in computer science and future careers opportunities.

School districts and non-public school systems with an elementary building of at least 40 percent of students eligible for free- and reduced-price lunch are eligible to apply. Six awardees will be selected to receive a $50,000 planning award through a competitive award application process. One Computer Science is Elementary School will be located in each of the six regions established by the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council.

Students learn computational thinking and other skills from Loess Hills Computer Programming School in Sioux City, which is in the inspiration for the Computer Science is Elementary project.

The application period will open in January 2019 and awards will be announced in the summer of 2019. The 2019-2020 school year will be used as a planning year for schools to weave computational thinking and other elements of computer science into their broader curriculum. After the Computer Science is Elementary Schools launch in August 2020, the schools will serve as a statewide resource for Iowa educators by sharing their curriculum and community engagement strategies.

The application template and additional information about the Computer Science is Elementary project can be found at www.IowaSTEM.gov/CSElementary.

All ten of the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council's Scale-Up programs this school year focus on students getting hands-on experience and using STEM-based critical thinking skills. Scale-Up preschool students are no exception. Ramps and Pathways is open to Pre-K through 2nd grade students and challenges them to experiment with marble runs.

Through the creation process, R&P students are introduced to problem-solving skills used by engineers in the workplace. 26 instructors from 16 schools were awarded training to implement the program in Southeast Iowa. Amber Foster, a preschool teacher at Frog Hollow Kid Campus completed her R&P training in November. "By using their creativity and thought process when making the ramps, this program helps them think in ways that they don't always get to think during preschool," she says.

Enhancing Iowa's growth as a STEM leader means that it's never too early to develop key critical thinking skills in our youth. Scale-Up programs such as Ramps and Pathways are designed to train young minds to see physics and engineering concepts in action before they even recognize them as such. "It's important for kids to be able to problem solve as they grow up because it helps them find solutions when they're older and don't have as much help from teachers, Foster says.

Shelly Bromwich is a Ramps and Pathways coordinator from the University of Northern Iowa and trains new instructors in the program. "Our belief that young children are natural scientists can be observed in early childhood classrooms every day! High quality materials that are open-ended and student-selected provide young children with the opportunity to develop scientific habits of mind, Bromwich says.

To learn more about Ramps and Pathways and more STEM Scale-Up programs offered, visit https://iowastem.gov/Scale-Up

Video Courtesy of Beth Vanmeeteren

A World In Motion Activity Kit Check-Out

Materials may be checked out for 6 weeks. They can be picked up and returned at the Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa, 2301 Oakdale Boulevard, Coralville, IA 52241 .  Please replace any consumables you use.