All it takes is one pivotal moment in a student’s life to inspire a lifetime of learning or a future vocation.  

In this episode of Authentic Educators, our guest is Dr. Ben Finio, the Lead Staff Scientist for Science Buddies, a nonprofit that designs STEM exercises for students K-12.  Our conversation focuses on an incredible project he works on which challenges students to design various structures using basic building blocks.  This year’s challenge is a Ball Run; prior years’ challenges include a Rocket Catcher and Rubber Band Car challenge.

In the episode, Dr. Finio fondly recalls a moment in his education when he got to build a structure out of toothpicks.  This key moment in his educational journey helped inspire his pursuit of engineering in college.  

The engineering challenge doesn’t take a ton of class time and is suitable for K-12 educators.