This document provides an overview of how to teach engineering concepts to elementary school students. It discusses the benefits of teaching engineering and debunks common myths. The key aspects covered include the engineering design process (EDP), which involves defining problems, brainstorming solutions, building prototypes, testing and redesigning. Examples are given of classroom activities that incorporate the EDP, such as designing a catapult. Suggestions are provided for bringing engineering into the classroom through guest speakers, design challenges, illustrating the EDP process, and connecting lessons to real-world engineering problems. The goal is to help students learn through hands-on projects and to understand the relevance of STEM fields.

1. Bringing Engineering to Life
in Elementary School
An online tutorial for elementary classroom teachers
1

2. 1. Why Teach Engineering?
2. Engineering Myths and Truths
3. The EDP (Engineering Design
Process)
4. Classroom Connections
5. Engineering Suggestions
2
SECTIONS
OF THIS
TUTORIAL

3. WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?
3
 You be a better teacher
 Your students be better learners
ENGINEERING CAN HELP

4. 4
The engineering mindset comes
naturally to children. Their
curiosity is activated as they
investigate a phenomenon, build,
design, or approach a challenge.
WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?
WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?

5. 5
Engineering takes advantage of children’s
interest in how things work.

6. 6
Engineering is a platform for
building scientific knowledge and
putting math into practice.
WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?

7. 7
Engineering “clarifies the relevance
of science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics to everyday life.”
Source: Next Generation Science Standards
WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?

8. 8
The E in STEM pulls
it all together.
WHY TEACH ENGINEERING?

9. 9
WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?
Engineers are guys in hard
hats who do math problems
all day.
MYTH

10. WHY TEACH
ENGINEERING?
10
Engineers are diverse and
come to the profession with
a passion to solve real-
world problems.
TRUTH

11. 11
There are many stereotypes
about engineering.

12. 12
Engineering
Myths and Truths
Engineering is basically the same
thing as science, and you’re
already teaching science.
MYTH
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS

13. 13
Engineering
Myths and Truths
They are different and complementary
 Science answers questions through
experimentation.
 Engineering solves problems through
design.
TRUTH
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS

14. 14
Engineering
Myths and Truths
Science is familiar and you know
how to teach it, but engineering is
foreign territory.
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
MYTH

15. 15
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
They overlap and both involve…
 Using rulers, thermometers, and
other instruments
 Collecting data
 Making careful observations
 Listening to classmates’ ideas and
solutions
TRUTH

16. 16
Engineering
Myths and Truths
Engineering is dry and pragmatic,
focused on facts and numbers. It’s
not imaginative or artistic.
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
MYTH

17. 17
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
TRUTH
Engineers use their creativity and
analytical skills to invent, design,
and build things that matter. By
finding imaginative and practical
solutions, engineers are changing
the world all the time.

18. 18
Engineering
Myths and Truths
Only certain kinds of kids are going
to become engineers, and there
aren’t that many of them.
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
MYTH

19. 19
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
Exposing children to
engineering gives them
confidence to pursue it as a
career, regardless of gender,
ethnicity, or socioeconomics.
TRUTH

20. 20
Engineering
Myths and Truths
You need a professional degree in
math, technology, or physics in order
to understand or teach engineering.
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
MYTH

21. 21
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
TRUTH
No particular professional
degree required—just curiosity
from you and your students to
explore how things work.

22. 22
Engineering
Myths and Truths
You also need to understand the
Engineering Design Process,
which you are about to learn.
ENGINEERING
MYTHS AND
TRUTHS
TRUTH

23. THE EDP
23
All engineers use the
engineering design
process (EDP).

24. 24
THE EDP
This next example illustrates
what the EDP looks like in an
elementary classroom.

25. EGG-CITING RIDE ACTIVITY
Your Challenge
Design a bungee jump for a raw egg.
Materials Include
• Ruler
• Nylons
• Rubber bands
• Balloons
• Yarn
• Sandwich bags
• Pennies

26. 26
THE EDP
The Problem
Make a bungee jump for a
raw egg so that it won’t hit
the floor when it’s dropped.

27. 27
THE EDP
The Specs
• The materials provided
• The height of the drop (5')
• How far from the floor the
egg needs to stop (2")

28. 28
THE EDP
Brainstorm
• Play with materials
• Talk about different ideas

29. 29
THE EDP
Build
• Designs will evolve
• It’s a messy, loud stage
• It’s worth it…it makes
engineering come to life!

30. 30
THE EDP
• Set up testing zone
• Record results
• Redesign to improve
• Add requirements for kids
who need more of a challenge
Test, Improve, Redesign

31. 31
THE EDP
Share It!
• Students present their
solutions
• Discuss what worked, what
didn’t
• Say what they liked about
each other’s designs

32. 32
Engineers move back and forth
among these steps. They might
share results at any point, for
example, and use feedback to go
back to brainstorming.
THE EDP
THE PROCESS

33. 33
Students will try to skip steps, like
design, and go right to build.
When planning, decide how much
time students will spend on each
step. You’ll also notice some
activities emphasize certain steps
more than others.
TIP
THE EDP

34.  Engineering design process
 Scientific inquiry
 Project-based learning
34
CLASSROOM
CONNECTIONS
Three Teaching Methods

35. 35
 Creativity
 Communication
 Critical Thinking
 Collaboration
Share Key Characteristics

36. 36
In all three approaches, the
teacher becomes a guide and
trouble shooter, rather than main
conveyor of information.
CLASSROOM
CONNECTIONS
STUDENTS LEARN BY DOING

37. 37
The second part of the formula is
combining the messages with a
hands–on activity
Learning by doing helps students understand why
failure is such an important part of the process.

38. 38
How do you turn engineering into
something you can do in an
elementary classroom, on a tight
schedule?
YOU’VE SEEN THE BENEFITS . . .
CLASSROOM
CONNECTIONS

39. 39
Life in the Middle Ages Unit
Design a Catapult Activity

40. DESIGN A CAPAPULT ACTIVITY
Your Challenge
Design and build a small-scale catapult
to launch a projectile and hit a target.
Materials Include
• Projectiles
• Craft sticks
• Rubber bands
• Bottle caps

41.  The best angle for launching the
projectile
 The properties of levers, like:
o Force
o Tension
o Mechanical advantage
 How history is shaped by engineering
41
CATAPULTS SHOWCASE
CLASSROOM
CONNECTIONS

42.  Reveal underlying technology
 Reinforce science and math concepts
 Motivate students: they’re fun!
42
ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES
CLASSROOM
CONNECTIONS

43. 43
CLASSROOM
CONNECTIONS
Find activities at:
DiscoverE.org

44. 44
Idea 1: Invite engineers to your
classroom to talk to your students.

45. 45
ENGINEERING
SUGGESTIONS
 Local university
 Local chapters of engineering
societies
 Local engineering companies
FIND GUEST ENGINEERS

46. 46
Turn explorations into design
challenges. For example, a lesson
about how plants absorb nutrients
includes, “what’s a way to keep a
plant from drying out if you can’t be
there to water it?”
ENGINEERING
SUGGESTIONS
IDEA 2

47. A CLEVER WAY TO WATER ACTIVITY
Your Challenge
Keep a potted plant watered for a
week with nobody around to do it.
Materials Include
• Plastic containers
• Small plants
• Cotton string
• Scissors
• Newspaper
• Water

48. 48
Ask your students to illustrate their
own engineering design process
posters. Post a few on the wall and
swap them out for other students’
work every week.
ENGINEERING
SUGGESTIONS
IDEA 3

49. 49
Idea 4: Invite students to imagine something to
make the world a better place and speculate
about how an engineer would make it happen.

50. 50
When you do an engineering
activity, talk about the EDP and
refer to the posters to make the
connection explicit.
ENGINEERING
SUGGESTIONS
IDEA 5

51. 51
In your professional learning
community or grade-level team, see
where engineering could be
incorporated.
ENGINEERING
SUGGESTIONS
IDEA 6

52. 52
Idea 7: Ask students to watch, listen, or read a news
article about a problem in their community
that engineers are solving..

53. 53
Display photos of common tools
and machines we use every day
and ask which ones engineers
invented (all of them). Then ask,
“What would you do if this thing
hadn’t been invented?”
ENGINEERING
SUGGESTIONS
IDEA 8

54. 54
That’s it! You’re ready to bring
engineering alive for your students.
How are you going to begin?

55. Funding for this training was provided by: