Hello, I recently was tasked with creating our school's first engineering class for our 11th graders for next year. This is an exciting opportunity, however I have only taken 1 engineering class in college and am very unsure how to organize this class. I have been trying to find some classroom resources and possibly another Engineering curriculum or two that I could reference to help build my class. Does anybody have any engineering resources or a curriculum that I could use to start planning out this class? Any guidance or support would be much appreciated! If you want to reach out via email, my email is [email protected]. Thanks, Kyle Yost
Kyle, I urge you to contact your local college or university's engineering department to come talk to your students about the different branches of engineering. You can create a partnership with them and get to do campus visits, especially during engineering week. You also could have some college students come and lead one of your classes in some engineering design practices. Research as much as you can. I am a STEM teacher and I have had the opportunity to work with our local engineering department at the university. We have had some amazing guest speakers come in from all over the US. Coding is an area you may want to explore. Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and other platforms like these are great to start coding to learn how to create things to solve problems. Ask students; "What is an engineer?" Hopefully, a lot of them will know. Another beginning of the year activity that I do is Reverse Engineering. http://content.teachengineering.org/content/cub_/activities/cub_creative/cub_creative_activity2_reverseengrworksheet_v2_tedl_dwc.pdf My worksheet is a little cutesy compared to the one in the link. I go to dollar stores and buy simple toys that move and some that are solar powered. The kids draw what they look like and continue to draw as they begin to take them apart so they can hopefully, put them back together. There are many simple machines contained in the toys and the students learn the difference between a flat head and Phillips head screwdriver. You may want to include an old VCR player or PS2. If you are interested in more ideas, you can email me. [email protected]
Teach them the engineering design process. Here is a sample of that along with a great site for engineering challenges. https://www.teachengineering.org/k12engineering/designprocess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEeTLopLkEo TedX Talk directed toward the next generation of female engineers.
Hi Kyle, I agree with Mary about contacting local engineering schools/programs in your area. They often have outreach programs or contests that can fit well into an engineering curriculum. My students have participated in a Pumpkin Drop Contest (think Egg Drop on steroids) in WV and Bridge Building contest in OH, both at engineering colleges. They can be a great asset. Here are a couple other online resources you may find helpful.High School Courses Developed by MIT Students - There are only two lessons here, but if you are studying sound/waves/electronics then these might interest you.Try Engineering Lesson Plans - The last time I visited this site they had over a hundred lesson plans that you might use outright or use for ideas that you could use in your class.CIESE K-12 Curricula - I've used several of the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education projects in the past. I'm not sure if the programs are still running, but there are lots of ideas here. Rebecca Falin
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