Brooklyn children's museum will partner with elementary school educators to create school programs for nature's engineers, a new stem maker space for children ages 5-10 that explores biomimicry (how…

The Brooklyn Children's Museum Corporation, doing business as the Brooklyn Children's Museum, received a $562,118 Project Grant award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the Museums for America (MFA) program (CFDA 45.301). The grant supports the museum's partnership with elementary school educators to create new STEM maker space programs for children ages 5-10 that explore biomimicry and the museum's natural science collection. Key activities include establishing an educator advisory council, developing 5 new STEM maker field trip programs, delivering those programs to public elementary schools in Central Brooklyn at no charge, providing teacher professional development, and evaluating the programs' effectiveness on student learning outcomes and behaviors. The project aims to help Central Brooklyn students make connections between engineering and nature that contribute to their understanding of science, human design, and the importance of the natural world.

Brooklyn children's museum will partner with elementary school educators to create school programs for nature's engineers, a new stem maker space for children ages 5-10 that explores biomimicry (how nature influences human design) through hands-on projects and engagement with the 14,000 objects in the museum's natural science collection. Project activities include creating an educator advisory council, developing five new stem maker field trip programs, delivering those programs to central brooklyn public elementary schools at no charge, providing teacher professional development programs, and evaluating the programs for their effectiveness on learning outcomes and behaviors. The project will result in central brooklyn students making connections between engineering and nature that contribute to their constructed narratives about science, human design, and the importance of our natural world.