Here's a great example of Education with Innovation and Imagination in Manatee County schools. You may not know the term but if you've ever seen "The Goonies" or "Back to the Future", you'll recognize a Rube Goldberg Machine. It's a device made by using a series of levers, pulleys and connections to complete a simple task. Students from grades 1-5 are currently building their Rube Goldberg Machines at Stewart Elementary School in West Bradenton.
STEM Teacher John Schultz says this is just the beginning of a year-long project that incorporates engineering and physics. He is teaching students to use gravity and the forces of motion to create a chain reaction of events in a systematic order. Students are building their machines outside with simple materials like cardboard, plastic containers, playing cards and dominoes.
Eventually, the STEM classes will discuss what works or what doesn't work in order to improve their project before building and testing it again. Finally, groups of students will build higher quality machines that all connect together.