Engineers are not born, they are inspired.  I am an engineer, but did  not grow up taking things apart, then putting them back together; OR helping my dad with fix-it jobs around the house; OR playing with Legos.  What I did grow up with was a natural curiosity for the world and a love for solving puzzles.

I was not born an engineer, I was inspired – by a movie when I was 14.  I had not a trace  of consideration for engineering before seeing that movie.  I had 9 years of school and over 4500 days of living -plenty of opportunities to be inspired – before seeing that movie.

My 6 year old daughter was not born an engineer.  In fact, most people look at her older brother and say he has “engineer” written all over him.  My daughter is the creative one and my son is the analytical one, yet my daughter is inspired by our comments – “you are a very creative paper engineer.”

What are some ways you can inspire the engineer within your child?

Photo courtesy of Society of Women Engineers

A few weeks ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Inkster Public Schools for their Literacy Night.  I was asked to say a few words and I ended my brief 5 minute speech with “Engineering is for Everybody and Anybody.”

After my speech, two 4th grade girls came over to see me.  They said “We liked what you said in your speech, your words were very inspiring.”

I replied enthusiastically, “you did?! I’m so happy!  Was there one part in particular that you liked the most?”

And one of the girls replied, “the part at the end where you said ‘Engineering is for everybody and anybody.’  Did you mean that?”

Deeply moved, I replied quietly, “oh yes!” and went on to show these some of the items engineers work on.

Six words – sometimes that’s all it takes to inspire a whole new path in a young person’s life.

How about you?  Were you aware that engineering is for everybody and anybody?

At the beginning of April, eSchoolNews.com featured an article I wrote in their online news service.  If you are an elementary teacher searching for simple ways to begin teaching engineering in your classroom, I encourage you to read on…

Engineering in your Lesson Plans

After you’re done reading the article, please leave me a comment on eSchool News or my blog – would love for you to share you thoughts, concerns, comments, etc.  If engineering in your elementary classroom is new to you, then let’s get the discussion going!

Mattel is taking votes for Barbie’s next career and Computer Engineer is one of the top contenders!  What a great way to create awareness of engineering in young girls!  She has had over 120 careers from fashion model to Nascar Driver to Presidential Candidate, but never an engineer.

People all over the world are voting for Barbie to be a Computer Engineer.  Twitter has seen over 3000 tweets encouraging people to vote for Computer Engineer Barbie.   Join the wave – vote today and encourage your friends to vote, too by using the Share buttons at the bottom!                  http://www.barbie.com/vote/

"Coffee and Paper" by Suat Eman

Engineering and the Humanities are two subjects I generally do not put together.  And I don’t think I’m alone on that one.

But the Marketing Wiz (Melissa Wiaduck) from my publishing house (Nelson Publishing & Marketing) helped me see a new and different path.  Recently, she suggested I apply to be listed in the Directory of Humanities Professionals on the Michigan Humanities Council website.  In her words, “I don’t see anything on there indicating they are currently running an engineering education program for elementary students, so being new to them is good!”

Upon 1^st glance at their website, I couldn’t see the connection between educating elementary students about engineering and the Humanities Council.  Words like dance and history and music and culture swirled before my eyes.  I pondered the big question: “How does engineering relate here?”

Well, think horses → to cars → to airplanes.  Or paper & pencil → to telephone → to Facebook & Twitter.  Throughout the ages, engineers have helped shape our culture, our world, our history.

Thinking of it this way, how can we not put engineering & the humanities together?

Illustration from Page 6 of my book "Engineering the ABC's"

I was looking at my son’s 2^nd grade “Motion” booklet on Wed. evening, and I saw a great teachable moment for incorporating engineering into the lesson.

The Motion booklet is part of their science curriculum and has activities such as building paper planes and seeing how far they will fly.  Making paper helicopters and sailing some boats are included too. This science lesson aims to give children an awareness of motion in the world around them.

One page really caught my eye.  This page had the students run different cars down different materials with different slopes.  Then asked questions on the 2^nd and 3^rd rounds such as “what changed?” & “why.”  Oh this is engineering at its finest!

Engineers often conduct experiments such as the car one to discover the effects of various materials, the effects of varying slopes, even the effects of 1 car shape vs another or 1 car weight vs another.  A big part of engineering is finding answers to “what will happen if I do x or y or z or a combination of the 3?”

I could go on for pages and days, but I’m stopping there because that is enough for 2^nd graders.  Two sentences – that’s all that’s needed to give the students an awareness of engineering.

I encourage you to add sentences like these to your curriculum.  Let me help you.  Contact me today to review your lesson plans and together, we will find a few places to add a few sentences.

Engineering doesn’t need to be the “silent E” in your STEM program any longer!

This morning, my daughter watched a clever episode of “Cyberchase” – a wonderful TV show for kids through PBS.  The episode was all about gears and how gears make bicycles, trains, clocks, etc. go faster or slower.  

 Kids can learn a bit about multiplication, problem solving, process modification, teamworking, real world applications with a bicycle and even diversity.  My daughter chimed in just now with how the team saved their friend, teaching kids about bravery and courage too!

So what is my problem with “Cyberchase?” 

My problem: I did not hear the word “engineering” used at all.

This episode of Cyberchase was chock full of engineering – the multiplication, problem solving, process modification, teamworking, real world applications and even diversity form the crux of engineering.

How great it would have been to hear from the show “Now how can we re-engineer this gear set to make the train go faster?”

Young children do not know they are watching engineering in action unless the show tells them.  Why do we keep it a secret? 

I am confident that soon children’s TV will let them in on the little engineering secret.  Until then, I will let my children know and will keep blogging to let you know, too.

Do you have any educational TV shows to share?  Do they actually use terms related to engineering (ie, re-engineer, chief engineer, etc.?)

Recently, I purchased a Bluetooth wireless device for my cell phone.  My husband and I are experimenting to see if the Bluetooth can save us a chunk of change each month by using our cell phone for outgoing long distance calls.

My cell phone and Bluetooth ensemble

This Bluetooth is our first so I was a bit surprised when my 5 year-old daughter told me the other day “Just call her on your Bluetooth, Mom.”  I’m amazed at how quickly “Bluetooth” became a natural part of her vocabulary and world. She accepts it as readily as if it were a new teddy bear, while I’m still a bit unsure about “this thing.”

As I’m adjusting to my new way of telephoning, I also noted some unique opportunities to teach my kids about engineering, science and math.  The following activities would work great in a school setting, but are especially well-suited for a setting with homeschooling or home-enrichment (children attend school with parents enriching the kids learning at home.)

For younger children, you can:

** examine and discuss the size of the earpiece.  Let them try it in their ear.  Does it fit?  Then try it in your ear.  Whose ear does it fit better in? 

How do you think engineers know what size to make the earpiece?

**  turn on your bluetooth and cell phone. Set them to connect. Place the bluetooth in your ear and hand your cell phone to your children. Count how many steps (preferably in a straight line) you can take away from your cell phone before the bluetooth disconnects. 

Convert your steps to feet or measure with a measuring tape. Does the distance they calculated match the stated distance for that model of bluetooth? (type in the bluetooth name and model number on the web to find specs) 

 How do you think engineers decided on the distance? (no right or wrong answer here, just spark some brainstorming)

For older children:

a. research noise cancellation theory and its applications (bluetooth, stethoscope, etc.)

b. research wireless technology. When did it start?  Who first discovered it?

How do you help your children learn - through homeschooling or home enrichment?

What are some ways you could use the activities above in your teachings?