The Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Fresno State will collaborate with Madera Unified School District in fall 2015 to deliver Kids Invent! to every fifth-grade classroom in the district. Kids Invent! is designed to stimulate the creativity of students through hands-on applications of science, math and engineering.
Each week students will explore solutions to practical problems solved through teamwork, observation and experimentation. A lesson plan will engage fifth graders in activities ranging from the construction of straw towers to designing working hovercrafts.
Every student who participates in the program will receive a certificate of completion from the Lyles Center. The program will culminate in spring 2016 with a district-wide Innovation Day.
“The partnership with Madera Unified is one we believe will have a lasting, positive impact on our youth and community,” said Dr. Timothy Stearns, director of the Lyles Center. “We are excited about the possibilities of this collaboration.”
Each of Madera Unified’s 17 school sites will receive teacher training and ongoing instructor and classroom support. Teachers will be able to access tailored videoed curricula manuals by Dr. Ed Sobey, co-creator of the Kids Invent! Program, to ensure each lesson is effective.
Comprised of 36 innovative activities, the Kids Invent! curricula aligns with California State Standards. The curricula has gone through review by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Fresno State to create a set of universal accommodations to be used in tandem with Individualized Education Programs and 504 Plans, ensuring every fifth-grade student is able to participate.
The program is also offered to fifth graders within the Fresno Unified School District.
For more information, contact Dr. Timothy Stearns at 559.278.3735 or timothys@csufresno.edu.
