Yes! You can teach kids engineering - even in elementary school!
Kids are naturally curious and like to try new things - just like engineers! This bundle of lessons is designed to get kids tinkering and learning the design process along the way. Great for classrooms, after-school programs, homeschool co-ops, and more! These hands-on lessons give students a chance to try building things, changing things, and reflecting on the results.
Got the lessons? Let’s get started! Here are the links listed in the lessons (often in the “Extension Activities” and “Resources” sections):
Spaghetti Structures:
Guinness Book for World Records - Structures
Build a Tower, Build a Team TED Talk
Water Filters:
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences video
Reading Rainbow Water Treatment Video
How to Make Filthy Water Drinkable TED Talk
Are We Running Out of Clean Water? TED-Ed Video
Perfect Play Dough:
Hands-on Science with Squishy Circuits TED Talk
Guinness Book of Records: Record-Breaking Mosaic in Dough
Bubbles and Wands:
Guinness Book of Records: Largest Floating Soap Bubble
The Fascinating Science of Bubbles TED Talk
Suspension Bridges:
Our Step-by-Step Bridge-Building Example
Bridges Should be Beautiful TED Talk
Building the Impossible: Golden Gate Bridge
Basketball Games:
Our Step-by-Step Basketball Game Example
Life Lessons Through Tinkering TED Talk
The Mighty Mathematics of the Lever TED-Ed Video
Wind Chimes:
Our Step-by-Step Wind Chime Design Process Example
Between Music and Medicine TED Talk
How Playing an Instrument Benefits Your Brain TED-Ed Video
D.I.Y. Mini Golf:
Guinness Book of Records: The World’s Largest Rube Goldberg Machine Video
How to Make a Rube Goldberg Machine Video
Golf: The Closest Game to Explain Life TED Talk
The Golf Ball that Made Golfers Too Good TED-Ed Video
D.I.Y. Arcade:
Do Schools Kill Creativity? TED Talk
How to Think About Gravity TED-Ed Video
Snack Grabbers:
Our Example of a Snack Grabber
Short Video of Our Snack Grabber in Action
Grab the Freebies!
Here are three free downloads that go with the engineering design process lessons. Click on the images to download the pdfs. Enjoy!
Student Rating Sheet for the ten challenges
Clean up reminder mini poster (color)
Clean up reminder mini-poster (grayscale)