Tried and Tested at Kherwadi Municipal School

1. ENGINEERING
CURRICULUM FOR
UNDERPRIVILEGED
PRIMARY SCHOOLS
BY NEEL CHHAOCHHARIA
FOR 4TH – 6TH GRADE STUDENTS

2. AIMS
• To cultivate an appreciation for designing and constructing objects from previous
knowledge
• To help provide a creative output in the sciences, where the education system
favours recalling ability over creativity
• To establish a basic understanding of how to apply classroom learning into other
aspects of life

3. GOALS
• To let the children create something they will keep or remember for a long time
• To rouse an excitement for the sciences
• To observe that they apply ‘textbook knowledge’ beyond exams

4. SESSION OUTLINE (1 HOUR EACH)
1. Paper Airplane
2. Origami Folding
3. Parachute Lander
4. Volcano Pt. 1
5. Volcano Pt. 2
6. Temperature and Magnets
7. Bottle Submarine
8. Building
9. Super Stool
10. Pinwheel

5. SESSION 1 PLAN – PAPER AIRPLANE
1. If they do not already know how to make paper airplanes, teach them with a
demonstration
2. Split them up into groups of 4-5, give each student a paper and each group a set of
colours
3. Let them make their own airplane
4. Teach and help them adapt their airplane (increasing the fold in one side to prevent
rolling etc)
5. Let each group test and race their planes. The winner of each group then faces each
other to have a final winner

6. SESSION 1 OUTCOME – PAPER AIRPLANE
• Each student got to keep
something they are proud of (they
brought the planes for future
sessions, kept them safely)
• The competitive aspect greatly
increased their interest in
optimizing their airplane
• Overall students extremely happy
with this session, wished to do it
again

7. SESSION 1 NOTES – PAPER AIRPLANE
• Keep a close eye on the children so that they do not throw the paper airplanes at
each other, or throw the planes too much as some planes were unfortunately lost
• If some students already know how to make paper airplanes, put them in
separate groups and let them teach their groups how to make the airplane. This
increased their interaction with each other and gave some of the students
teaching practice
• Ensure that you make them understand when it is appropriate to make/throw
paper airplanes and when it is not

8. SESSION 2 PLAN – ORIGAMI FOLDING (SHIRTS)
1. If some students know how to make origami t-shirts, make groups of 3-4 students
and ensure every group has a student that knows how to make them, else give a
demonstration
2. Ask them to make their origami shirts individually, focusing on quality of folds and
making a design behind it
3. Add some competition to further motivate the students. Allot marks for folding
quality and design quality, have them compete within the group, any way to add a
layer of competition
4. Declare a winner, let them go home with it
5. NOTE: THIS CAN BE CARRIED OUT WITH ANY OTHER ORIGAMI FOLDS

9. SESSION 2 OUTCOME – ORIGAMI FOLDING
• Students learned how to design
something of their own and keep it with
themselves, which is something they were
extremely proud of
• Some students got the opportunity to
teach other students
• They enjoyed this as a creative yet
productive break from studies
• Learned how something as basic as paper
can be made into something so complex
and beautiful

10. SESSION 2 NOTES – ORIGAMI FOLDING
• Engage with the students as at first, some may think that this is a boring activity.
Try and appeal to their competitive nature or any way you see fit, as in the end
even those who did not expect to have fun did.
• Encourage wacky, crazy designs. Some students went for a simple formal shirt,
however once encouraged to do otherwise came up with some very creative
designs
• Ultimately, ensure they have fun. There is no real concept to learn here but rather
an appreciation for making something of your own

11. SESSION 3 PLAN – PARACHUTE LANDER
• Split students into groups of 5-6. As with other sessions, if students know how to perform this,
ensure they’re distributed everywhere. However, if they do not, DO NOT DEMONSTRATE
• Provide the following materials: Paper cup, adequate string, plastic bag, colours, egg OR crackers
• Explain the objective of dropping the cup from a height without breaking the egg/spilling the
crackers. Explain that the drop will be timed and longest time wins
• Provide adequate help where needed. If groups seem lost, guide them with clues
• Perform tests where the students drop the parachute from a height thrice. If the egg/cracker
breaks they are disqualified from the competition OR if the egg/crackers are spilled that timing
is not considered.
• Team with longest time wins. Declare a winner. Do with parachutes as you please

12. SESSION 3 OUTCOME – PARACHUTE LANDER
• Students learned active problem
solving
• Students tinker with various designs,
introducing them to the idea of testing
a prototype
• Blended science and art to understand
how creativity is extremely important
to both fields
• Teamwork strongly encouraged, those
that worked better together had a
better landing system

13. SESSION 3 NOTES – PARACHUTE LANDER
• Ensure the goal of the experiment is made clear to all students, there were some
students that did not understand the aim and tried to just follow the others in
their group
• Allow them to split up into sub-groups so that they can individually focus on
what they are good at – introduces concept of specialization
• Ensure no conflict takes place over ideas by encouraging productive discussion

14. SESSION 4 PLAN – VOLCANO PT. 1
• Split kids into groups of 4, and perform the following steps, telling them to mimic you (give
them the necessary materials, they will do this side-by-side)
• Take a square cardboard base
• Stick plastic bottle to cardboard base with glue
• Take some of the newspaper and scrunch it up, soak in mixture of thin white glue and water,
build approximate shape of volcano around bottle using scrunched up newspaper
• Make and soak strips of newspaper in same mixture of thin white glue and water
• Add layers until Volcano shape is formed
• Keep in safe space

15. SESSION 4 OUTCOME – VOLCANO PT. 1
• Students learn the art of paper mâché, leads to many possible projects for them
to undertake on their own
• Preparation for next session
• Students learn how to follow step-by-step instructions
• Students understand how to work together to finish the task faster

16. SESSION 4 NOTES – VOLCANO PT. 1
• Ensure this is performed in an area where clean up is easy; take necessary
precautions if needed (cover flow in newspaper, ensure students wear some kind
of apron if necessary)
• This is largely preparation for the next session, so if time is left play games with
the children, develop your relationship with them
• Make sure volcanoes are kept in a safe place to dry and are not touched
• Ideally have next session within the next 2 days

17. SESSION 5 PLAN – VOLCANO PT. 2
• Using various paints and colours, ask students to customize volcano into their
own design
• Using a funnel, instruct students to add a couple of spoons of baking soda or
bicarbonate soda to the bottle
• Add few drops of red food colouring
• Ensure next step is either done outdoors or in a controlled environment where
clean-up will be easy (use a large tray for example)
• Add white vinegar, ask students to carefully observe

18. SESSION 5 OUTCOMES – VOLCANO PT. 2
• For students to understand how a chemical reaction works
• A visual understanding of how when there is too much stuff in too less space, it
bursts out (i.e. concept of pressure)
• Pride of building something as powerful as a volcano of their own
• Promotes study of chemistry

19. SESSION 5 NOTES – VOLCANO PT. 2
• Ensure this is all done in an easy to clean space, as a spill and mess is guaranteed
• Explain every step of the reaction once it is over to a level that the students can
understand (varies from school-to-school, but try to explain formation of air and
liquid)
• Request school before performing this experiment. Some schools may not
approve as the mess may be too much to clean up
• If you wish to further explain reaction, perform your demonstration in a
transparent plastic bottle and record in slo-mo on your phone. Show this to the
children and explain step by step

20. SESSION 6 PLAN – MAGNETS AND TEMPERATURE
• Take 3 identical neodymium bar magnets
• Tape a compass and ruler to a table (ruler should be in direction and in line of needle)
• Ask students what they think will happen if you heat or cool the magnets, and why (expect
students to be largely clueless)
• Also ask students how can they measure strength of one magnet using compass and ruler
• Test out their methods, then use actual test and demonstrate effect of temperature
• Ask them to guess why
• To explain why this happened, ask them to pull something while jumping and being excited, and
ask them to pull something while still.

21. SESSION 6 OUTCOME – MAGNETS AND
TEMPERATURE
• Introduces the scientific method – vital to science
• Introduces the concept of “properties” of objects
• Shows how temperature affects various objects differently
• Creativity in trying to find out how to measure magnetic strength

22. SESSION 6 NOTES – TEMPERATURE AND MAGNETS
• Ensure you have a way to heat the magnets (lighter, or ideally immerse in boiling
water in school kitchen if available)
• Carry ice to cool magnet or use school fridge/freezer if available
• Ensure compass is working beforehand
• If possible, ask students to write down their hypothesis and explanations, along
with diagrams of their scientific setup

23. SESSION 7 PLAN – BOTTLE SUBMARINE
• Split students into groups of 4, and give each student a large enough plastic tub
(refer to http://www.submarinesafaris.com/kids_build_your_own_submarine.php)
• Ask students to customize the plastic bottle like a submarine
• Giving each student a plastic bottle, a straw, tape, coins and some modelling clay,
ask them to make a submarine that they can control the depth of
• Give them tips and guide them if they are unable to do so
• Encourage constant testing, and in the end ensure every group has a working
submarine

24. SESSION 7 OUTCOME – BOTTLE SUBMARINE
• Creativity and application in trying to develop own submarine
• Understanding of how submarines work in real life
• Explanation of buoyancy and how air moves up in water
• Students appreciate how these basic effects are applied to the real world

25. SESSION 7 NOTES – BOTTLE SUBMARINE
• Ensure spills do not occur
• Be careful while cutting holes in the bottle
• Ensure explanation of how the submarine works is fully explained and
understood; ask questions and do light testing if necessary

26. SESSION 8 PLAN – BUILDING
• Split students into groups of 4
• Provide them sticks (as many as you can). a roll of tape and a balloon filled with
regular air
• Ask them to build the tallest structure they can that can hold the balloon at the
top
• Ask them to also colour and customize their building
• Measure the tallest building that is stable and can hold the balloon comfortably
at the top, award winner accordingly

27. SESSION 8 OUTCOME - BUILDING
• Students build their own building which gives them a sense of pride
• Imbibes a basic understanding of how buildings are supported, and how to
distribute weight around a base
• Great mix of design and science, students understand the importance of each to
the other better

28. SESSION 8 NOTES - BUILDING
• Advocate for creative structures
• Ask students to create rough plans on paper before starting
• If a teams structure collapses, encourage them to move on and start again (this
can be quite disheartening for some people) and help them figure out what went
wrong
• Provide colors if you can
• Using ice-cream sticks is advisable

29. SESSION 9 PLAN – SUPER STOOL
• Split students into groups of 4, and provide them with plenty of cardboard
• Ask them to try and make a stool that they can sit on
• Also ask them to colour and design their stools
• If they are unable to do so after half an hour, give them clues and tips
• At the end, test each of the stools yourself
• The stool capable of handling the most weight wins

30. SESSION 9 OUTCOME – SUPER STOOL
• Students further their understanding of supporting structures, and how triangles
are effective in distributing pressure
• Students have a cheap way to build their own furniture, can be a fun pastime at
home

31. SESSION 9 NOTES – SUPER STOOL
• Encourage students to try and build different furniture in their own time
• Ensure it is made clear how something as weak as cardboard can support
something as heavy as a human
• Use approximate weights to test strength of stool (such as bags, books etc.)

32. SESSION 10 PLAN – PINWHEEL
• Set this as a final grand competition
• Splitting students into groups of 4, ask each group to make and design a
pinwheel (informing that fastest pinwheel wins)
• Tell them they will get points on speed, design and art
• Give them 30 mins to make it fully, then test the pinwheels
• Award the winning group, award all previous winning groups
• Explain the workings of a pinwheel

33. SESSION 10 OUTCOME - PINWHEEL
• Courage to try out new designs for pinwheel to make them better
• Integrating art into engineering
• Another thing they have created on their own, combination of all the past
projects over the 10 sessions makes them want to keep making things of their
own
• Shows how something as simple as a pinwheel can be changed so much

34. SESSION 10 NOTES – PINWHEEL
• Ask them why big wind turbines have a different design even though pinwheel is
so effective
• This is a rather simple project, so if a group finishes well ahead of time, ask them
to tinker and come up with a different design of a pinwheel rather than a regular
one (and test it as well)
• If you finish early (advised), spend time playing games with the kids as this is the
last session of the curriculum
• Strongly advised to carry on, finding similar projects online

35. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• wikiHow. “How to Improve the Design of Any Paper Airplane.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 12 July 2018,
www.wikihow.com/Improve-the-Design-of-any-Paper-Airplane.
• education.com. “Egg Drop Parachute | Science Project.” Egg Drop Parachute | Science Project |
Education.com, 4 Apr. 2014, www.education.com/science-fair/article/egg-parachute/.
• education.com. “Magnets and Temperature: Does the Temperature of a Magnet Affect Its
Strength? | Science Project.” Science Project | Education.com, 5 Nov. 2013,
www.education.com/science-fair/article/magnets-temperature/.
• Carpenter, Michael E. “How to Make a Submarine Out of a Water Bottle.” Sciencing, 24 Apr.
2017, sciencing.com/make-submarine-out-water-bottle-8188583.html.
• wikiHow. “How to Build a Cardboard Stool.” WikiHow, WikiHow, 27 Sept. 2018,
www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Cardboard-Stool.