Teachers, start your engine[er]s!
What is engineering?
NASA defines an engineer as “a person who designs and builds complex products, machines, systems, or structures.” Engineers follow the engineering design process, which includes identifying a problem, brainstorming solutions, and then creating, testing, and retesting the solution. When your students are engineering, they’re thinking like a scientist! At TinkerClass, we practice the engineering design process through podjects [podcasts + projects], activities or experiments that investigate a real world question or problem.
Wow your students with examples of some of the world’s greatest engineering WOWs and WONDERs!
Learn about an engineer!
Inspire students with stories of real life engineers and their spectacular designs, such as Nikola Tesla, an engineer WHO was instrumental in inventing some of the world’s most prominent technologies, such as air conditioning and the modern-day light bulb! Be sure to remind students that there are many different types of engineers, including chemical, aerospace, electrical, and many more. Have students research an engineer that interests them, such as biological engineering PhD students Malik & Miles, and share a fun fact either written or as an audio recording!
Take it a step further and invite an engineer from your community to visit your classroom! Ask the engineer to share about their work and encourage students to get curious and ask questions. Or take a field trip (real or virtual!) to a museum that highlights engineering, such as The National Building Museum or the Bakken Museum.
Enter the February TinkerClass Podject Challenge!
Now that your class is inspired, it’s your turn to design, build, and create some WOW! Enter the TinkerClass National Engineering Podject Challenge for your chance to win a WOW kit of 30 headphones and other amazing TinkerClass swag!
Want to enter the challenge but need some support? We’ve got you covered with a BONKERBALLS amount of resources to guide you through every step of the podject process – from How? to Wow!
Engineer all year!
Engineers Week happens once a year, but we want you to celebrate engineering ALL YEAR LONG! Check out some of our favorite podjects and activities to get your students thinking like engineers every day!
Want more engineering resources? Look no further!
- Fun Engineering Activities and STEAM Projects for Kids by Age
- 25 Kid-Tested STEM Projects
- 7 Awesome Engineering Activities to do with Kids
Signup for FREE at TinkerClass.com and start experiencing the benefits of Podject Based Learning with your students!