Iowa STEM standards: hands-on mechanical engineering activities

Iowa Standards Mapping

Teachers can use Toyineer projects to address selected 2025 Iowa Academic Standards for Science and 2024 Iowa Academic Standards for Mathematics through hands-on mechanical construction.

Alignment reviewed October 2026.


Standards and evidence.

These alignments use only the ordinary Toyineer construction process. They do not depend on a separate extension activity.

I. 2025 Iowa Academic Standards for Science: Forces and Motion

KindergartenK-PS2-1
Plan and conduct an investigation comparing how different strengths or directions of pushes and pulls affect an object's motion.
During ordinary assembly and testing, learners push and pull moving components and can compare how changes in direction or relative effort affect the resulting motion.
Grade 33-PS2-1
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on an object's motion.
Toyineer mechanisms make balanced and unbalanced forces visible. Learners can observe a mechanism at rest, apply force, and explain why a part begins moving, stops or changes direction.
Grade 33-PS2-2
Make observations or measurements of motion to provide evidence that a recurring pattern can be used to predict future motion.
Rockers, followers, push rods and other constrained components move through repeatable paths. Learners can observe one cycle and predict the next position or direction of the moving part.

II. 2024 Iowa Academic Standards for Mathematics: Geometry

KindergartenK.G.A.3
Identify shapes as two-dimensional (flat) or three-dimensional (solid).
Toyineer starts with flat printed components and turns them into three-dimensional structures, giving educators a direct physical example of the distinction between 2-D and 3-D form.
Grade 11.G.A.2
Compose two-dimensional or three-dimensional shapes to create composite shapes and create new shapes from the composite forms.
Learners combine separate cut, folded and assembled components into larger structures and ultimately into one composite mechanical object.

Official standards sources: 2025 Iowa Academic Standards for Science and 2024 Iowa Academic Standards for Mathematics.


Hands-on evidence for standards-aligned learning.

Teachers can use Toyineer projects to address these standards. Students also gain skill in their use of tools and appreciate the importance of accuracy in engineering.

All standards pages