Workshops at Your School – Topics by Grade Level

PreK

60-minute workshops/$11.50 per student

Wind Float objects in wind tubes and construct a sail car.
Bridges Engineer a bridge and create a bridge-building kit to take home.

Our Pre K workshops are intended for students who will be starting kindergarten the following fall (4 and 5 year olds). These workshops are not a good fit for children under 4 due to developing fine motor skills and small pieces that can be put in mouths. Please request these workshops ONLY for Pre K students.  Thank you!

Kindergarten to Grade 2

60-minute workshops/$11.50 per student

Circuit Explore Learn about the flow of electricity and hook up different circuits to create a light to take home. Great fit with first grade standards.
Light and Kaleidoscopes Experiment with reflecting and absorbing of light. Build and engineer a colorful kaleidoscope to take home.
Mini-Catapults Practice the Engineering Design Process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object. Great fit with second grade standards.
Engineer with K’Nex Explore with our K’Nex building pieces. Practice sorting them and putting them together, then complete a building challenge. Great fit with second grade standards.

90-minute workshops/$13.50 per student

NEW! Dwellings Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling. Great fit with second and fourth grade standards.

Grades 3-6

60-minute workshops/$11.50 per student

Light and Kaleidoscopes Examine how light travels, changes direction, and is refracted. Build and engineer a colorful kaleidoscope to take home. Great fit with third and sixth grade standards.
Mini-Catapults Practice the Engineering Design Process and use a glue gun to construct a small catapult. Find out how far you can fling an object. Great fit with fourth grade standards.
Circuit Power How does electricity work? Experiment with the components of simple circuits: power, loads, wires, and switches. Test out ways that motors can be used, wire a circuit, and build your own motor-powered fan or wiggle bot to take home. Great fit with fourth grade standards.
NEW! Environmental Engineering Discover how engineers work to reduce erosion in the environment. Build a hillside out of dirt, then design an erosion mitigation plan using rocks, fabrics, wood, sand, and other materials. Test your design in a rain shower, then see if you can improve it. A great fit with fourth grade standards. This workshop was developed in partnership with our friends and engineers at Barr Engineering.
*A non-carpeted floor is recommended for this workshop, and access to water is required.

90-minute workshops/$13.50 per student

Maze Engineering Use the Engineering Design Process to design and construct your own maze, pinball, or pachinko game. Experiment with changes in speed and direction and the effects of gravity and friction. Uses hot glue guns. Great fit with fifth and sixth grade standards.
Pasta Bridges Work in teams using pasta, hot glue, and the Engineering Design Process to build the strongest bridge you can. Test how much weight it can hold before it breaks. Great fit with fourth and sixth grade standards.
NEW! Dwellings Learn how Dakota, Hmong, Mexican, Ojibwe, and Somali communities have traditionally engineered their homes. Investigate building techniques, experiment with materials, then design and create your own mini-dwelling. Great fit with second and fourth grade standards.
NEW! Electromagnetism Discover the properties of electromagnetism by building an electromagnetic fishing pole and sorting game to take home. Great fit with fourth grade standards.
* This is a 90-minute workshop that ideally is done all at once, but can be split into two sessions if necessary.

Click here to view the Minnesota K-12 Science Standards/Benchmarks addressed in the above workshops.

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