One of the biggest lessons I learned was how standards focused/centric the teachers were throughout the development of the Storylines.  My background is in biomechanics and engineering so working with teachers was new to me, so hearing the teachers discuss which standards would best apply to their classrooms was incredibly informative for me.  It was also interesting because some of the standards I assumed would be simple to address with biomechanics were not the standards teachers were considering.  So one lesson I would take forward would be to understand the important/valued standards for each teacher from the very beginning. 

There was a huge variety! Each teacher worked to create lessons that fit with their own grade level and standards. We had one teacher who had students design their own animal using clay, experimenting with having a metal skeleton or not; one teacher jumped on an ice storm to have students engage in inquiry about balance and walking on ice; a few used kamigami robots to have students learn about how animals move and about habitats. 

Thanks for clarifying, Michelle - teachers are amazing in their creativity! Did you offer suggestions, or was it all up to them? Wonderful lessons, no doubt.

Not surprisingly, the teachers usually have to make fairly explicit connections between careers and activities unless it's relatively obvious. But one of the amazing outcomes was the extent to which teachers really identified the ways in which biomechanics is evident in many, many careers, such as how ice skaters use their bodies to control things like how fast they spin, and how coaches can use that knowledge to help athletes. 

Because the local school districts are naturally protective of students, we were only able to directly measure student outcomes during our one-week summer 'camp' during the professional development. We did find some gains, but of course it is a long time between elementary school and careers, so we also recognize the impact of just inspiring students to know there are careers in fields they hadn't even realized existed. 

I agree that helping students make connections between what they are learning and potential careers can make strong impressions, even on the youngest students. Thanks for your response.

Directly related to this project, our next steps are really focused on writing up the results from our different perspectives.  We have a few publications under review but there is always more to write about! Beyond this project myself of some of the other Co-PIs have put forth some grant proposals within NSF to hopefully move this work forward and continue to incorporate biomechanics at every level of education.  Fingers crossed we get some positive feedback!!

Thank you for your excellent response.  I really enjoyed hearing about your project.