Next Engineers in New York’s Capital Region roared to life this February with the first Engineering Discovery sessions held at local schools. More than 300 students at four schools were joined by Next Engineers volunteers and educators for hands-on engineering activities during the month, and hundreds more are scheduled to be reached this spring. Response from schools has been robust, with local educators reaching out directly to the Next Engineers team to bring programming to their classes.
The first sessions challenged eighth and ninth grade students to design, build, and test flying machines in the Drop Zone activity. Facilitators encouraged students to refine their designs to make them drop as slowly and as accurately as possible, leading them to try many different designs. Learners in the local Ballston Spa High School gave excited responses; sharing ideas about what other materials they want to try, plans for changes to their designs, and their desire to learn more. “This was a lot of fun. It was inspiring to see students work as a team and work together to improve their design” said one volunteer from the event. These same students will be visited again this coming March and challenged to build Moon Landers, and we’re excited to see what new ideas they will design and test!
