Play-Based STEM > Problem-Based STEM for Newbies

I am a child of the 80's and 90's. The bulk of my exposure to STEM came in the form of playtime and via STEM-based stories that fascinated me. I wanted to become an engineer primarily because of these stories (and a healthy dose of fatherly guidance).

No one had to explain to me "what" an engineer does or "how" they do it. I knew because it was acted out in the stories I loved. Not only did they perform (somewhat) realistic scientific/engineering scenarios, they also used the language associated with those roles- the language of STEM.

It's how I knew that the flux capacitor required 1.21 gigawatts of power and that the Delorean needed to reach a speed of 88 mph to travel through time. Was it nonsense in real life? Of course! But it was a facsimile of what happens in labs and test facilities around the world. I intuited the units of power and speed which were uttered by the characters. And more importantly, it sparked my imagination.

STEM Learning Must Piggyback on Play!

I'm a huge advocate for STEM learning in the early years. But what's the optimal framework for developing and delivering STEM content to young learners. I'll go more deeply into my STEM learning framework in a future post but to answer this I'll simply start by saying that STEM learning MUST be coupled with PLAY.

It must be connected to the stories, characters, and ARTIFACTS that already occupy a child's imagination. Those connections must also be specifically called out. Here's a sample of what I knew at an early age:

• Tony Stark was an engineer from MIT who built the prototype Mark I suit in a makeshift machine shop/laboratory!

• Geordi La Forge (played by Lavar Burton) was the Chief of Engineering on the starship Enterprise! One of his primary responsibilities was maintaining the warp core which allowed them to bend space and travel faster than the speed of light!
• R2D2 is a robot that assists Jedi and travels through space on a starship(s) repairing damaged vehicles which he is programmed to do.

These memorable characters were just a few of the inspirations for me to pursue a career as an engineer. I am a firm believer that what another childhood inspiration of mine was quoted as saying, that play is "the work of childhood."

The Stories That Made Mr. Mo

What are some of the other stories that made me? Below are a few stories, series, and characters that inspired me to become an engineer. The STEM connections are shown in parenthesis next to the items.

Movies/Shows:

• Star Wars (space, robotics, physics)
• Star Trek (space travel, economics, gadgets)
• Transformers (robotics, space travel, general science)
• Go Bots (robotics)

Characters:

• Tony Stark (engineer)
• Bruce Banner (Physicist)
• Geordi La Forge (Chief of Engineering)
• Data (A.I., advanced robotics)
• C3PO (robotics, A.I.)
• Terminator (robotics)

And too many more to name, lol!

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