EiE: Keeping it Simple
Learning about engineering doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, engineering education at the elementary level can take place with just the materials found around the classroom.
Take solar ovens, for example. Students use a cardboard box, aluminum foil and plastic wrap, tape, construction paper, and other insulating materials to get their oven hot enough to roast a marshmallow – a tasty s’more is a nice reward for a job well done.
But it doesn’t stop at school. EiE projects are simple and easy to replicate at home.
“We want our students to be excited about math and science, and take that excitement from the classroom to the home,” Friers said.
Avalon, a third-grader at Clear Creek Elementary, agreed after working on building bridges with her class.
“I feel like if this was at home we would never stop building!” she said.
The assignment Avalon was referring to required her and her classmates to build a bridge with just these materials: four small wooden blocks, straws, cups, index cards, paper clips, paper, clay, string, a ruler, and washers. The bridge needed to be 15 inches across and tall enough that a boat (a block) could “sail” under without touching it.
“The beauty of this project is that there are several outcomes to the same problem,” Friers said. “It’s important for kids, especially at younger ages, to exercise their creativity and go through the engineering process when working on these assignments.”