Have you ever wondered how to better understand what young children are thinking during STEM play, or how to plan for a developmentally appropriate experience? Take a few minutes to explore STEMIE’s three microlessons that can help you cultivate children’s STEM learning in everyday situations. Here’s a quick introduction to each microlesson and why they can transform how we support young children’s STEM development.

What Does Engaged STEM Learning Look Like?

https://stemie.fpg.unc.edu/resource/what-does-engaged-stem-learning-look-like/

What does engagement actually look like in STEM play? This microlesson helps you learn about different ways children may engage and show how they are noticing the world around them:

• Staying focused on a challenge:being cognitively, socially, and emotionally involved as children think, question, and make sense of phenomena.
• Trying different ideas
• Asking questions using different communication means
• Showing excitement or curiosity using their different senses.

Why It Matters: When we understand the multiple ways children demonstrate their engagement in STEM learning, we can better support and sustain it. When you know what to look for, it becomes easier to design experiences that foster curiosity, perseverance, and meaningful exploration, especially for young children with disabilities.

Observing Children’s Thinking in STEM

https://stemie.fpg.unc.edu/resource/observing-childrens-thinking-in-stem/

This microlesson emphasizes the importance of intentional observation. Learn how to notice how children are thinking, problem-solving, and reasoning.

You’ll learn how to:

• Notice clues about children’s ideas
• Consider what those clues might mean
• Respond with questions and comments that promote thinking
• Use what you learn to plan the next steps.

Why It Matters: When we tune into how children are thinking (not just what they are doing, we can scaffold more effectively, ask better questions, and support deeper understanding. This kind of reflective practice is foundational for inclusive and responsive STEM learning and turns everyday moments into rich opportunities to support problem-solving and curiosity.

What Are Learning Trajectories (LTs)?

https://stemie.fpg.unc.edu/resource/what-are-learning-trajectories-lts/

Learning Trajectories (LTs) are a research-based framework that describes how children typically develop their thinking in specific STEM domains. This microlesson breaks down what LTs are, why they matter, and how to use them. Some key ideas:

• LTs combine three parts: a learning goal (the big STEM idea), a developmental path (how children’s thinking grows over time), and instructional activities tailored to different levels of thinking.
• By understanding where a child is on a developmental path, adults can design or choose learning opportunities that are appropriately challenging and growth oriented.
• STEMIE’s approach to LTs is inclusive. The LTs are designed to honor different ways children may demonstrate understanding and provide adaptation strategies to help you cultivate inclusive STEM learning for all children, including children with disabilities.

Why It Matters: Putting this into practice empowers us to meet all children where they are, not just by age, or by a scope and sequence of concepts, but by cognitive and conceptual development.

These microlessons are grounded in developmental science and collectively offer guidance for anyone working with young children.  Begin your journey now to understand children’s thinking more clearly, plan inclusive and developmentally appropriate experiences and learning opportunities that fit children’s current skills and interests, and create playful STEM experiences that truly engage young learners.