I2 LEARNNG

i2 introduces students in grades 4-8 to a broad range of STEM topics by immersing them in week-long, hands-on projects to design and build working artifacts and models, experiment with new techniques and technologies, and tackle problems of their present and future worlds. Our programs are designed to be easy for schools to implement and include the following: Courses: We have developed over 60 one-week STEM courses in partnership with 20 of the world’s leading STEM organizations including... MIT, Harvard and Stanford Universities, the Museum of Science in Boston, the Center for Mathematical Talent, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Each of our courses is designed to have students work to find solutions to real-world problems, including a number of the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering. Courses are categorized under six topics not traditionally seen in middle school education: Challenges of Engineering; Genetics, DNA & the Human Body; The Science of Smart Cities; Our Transforming World; Time, Space and Other Dimensions; and Robotics and Electronics. Immersive and Flexible: We offer our program in lieu of regular instruction during the school year or as summer enrichment camps, and so far over 2,000 students have engaged in i2 course activities such as building prosthetic fish tails and elephant legs, designing response plans to global epidemics, and engineering robotics solutions to industrial manufacturing challenges, as well as hundreds of other hands-on activities design to “invent and inspire”(from which “i2” derives its name). Each course is based on 25 hours of curriculum and is designed to run for 5 hours on each of 5 consecutive days. Teacher Training and Logistics: Training for teachers to deliver i2 courses is provided by i2 curriculum developers and content experts from our partner institutions. i2 provides customized kits of materials and equipment for each course, including supplies as diverse as conductive thread and electrical breadboards to sheep brains and pumpkin seeds.More