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Teaching Fifth Graders Engineering
Jamie noticed a NYT story saying "To compete in a global economy, some school districts are offering engineering lessons to students in kindergarten. " The story is about 5th graders working on a new experimental curriculum that is well beyond the egg drop of old.
Back when I was in 6th grade (about 20 years ago) we did some engineering stuff, both mechanical as well as some electrical. I remember the most fun project was making our own remote control cars that had to battle it out. The intention was to see who could design the best car to push other cars out of the circle, but I remember my partner and I turned it into more of a battlebots experiment where we essentially had a drill on the front of our car to disable the other cars (most were made out of balsa wood). The trick was, we were limited to certain specs, including a max of 4 motors. Most people made the obvious 4 wheeled car, but we opted for a three wheel car that was nice and pointy with the "drill" on the front utilizing the fourth motor.
Fun times...
Obviously not something that would be done in school, but playing with firecrackers and other incendiary devices provided me with some engineering insights early on.
Sample objective: achieving maximum height of a projectile using an explosive propellant.
Lessons learned: 1) Use a seamless can (such as an empty butane canister), as normal cans would just blow apart. 2) Set canister in a basin of water to minimize energy loss, with firecracker suspended by the wick through a hole on top.
Results: A couple hundred meters altitude, incredibly low deviation from vertical.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
I like the overall idea, but I think they could introduce some "Mythbuster"-type experimentation. First it helps understand the "Hypothesis-Methodology-Test-Conclusion" scientific approach and it also encourages them to be critical of pre-conceived ideas.
I think that The egg drop, popsicle stick bridges, and electric circuits I learned in Elementary school are far more engineering worthy than the tasks they listed in the article.
They were just more practical problems that didn't need to be dumbed down.
Yes, but that entire way of life is predicated on cheap energy, that is, oil. As energy gets more expensive, we won't be able to support a parasite class any longer.
It'll sort itself out.
You don't have to be overprotective or demanding or anything, but just "chilling out" and letting the kids raise themselves isn't good either
I think you missed the OP's point... reread pls
When people consider the kids ready for religion at kindergarten age, I don't see why they shouldn't be ready for science.
My observations show enviro cliches are more popular now. The more guilt inducingly politically correct the better. If the hypothesis / test / conclusion steps are a bit weak, well, we'll give credit anyway because its so important. That's what I've been seeing.
Besides, someone could get hurt/maimed/killed/sued from doing anything, so its better to just make a poster on the topic of enviro original sin.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
one of my wife's friends has a 18 month old - her FAVORITE toy is a fake hot pink cell phone - she likes to follow her mom around the house pretending to talk on it - while her mother walks around talking on her's..
It's so sad, yet funny to watch..
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
I got my start programming in school in 4th grade, but my parents stood behind that when I showed a strong interest. They bought me a (and my sister, fat lot she used it) Sinclair 1000. Then a Commodore 16, then C64.
Then I wanted a C128, but they refused. Somehow, despite knowing less about it than me, they realized that IBM-compatible was the future and forced me to pick out an IBM-compatible computer. They tell me I cried. lol But I did, and I made newbie mistakes, and I got better.
It's thanks to my school starting me down the path and my parents being willing to invest the time and money into it that I'm the happy programmer that I am today. Otherwise, I'd probably be some manager somewhere and hating my job and not knowing why.
I wish more schools would take the first step to introduce children to -all- the trades out there, including science, literature, music, computers and engineering. I firmly believe that more children would grow up with goals in life and be happier for it. If not goals, then at least skills they like and can turn into a career.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
. There was a write up in the local paper and lots of enthusiasm. I would say that the goals of the program were not so much education as...
It was a lot of fun and well received. The next batch of sessions will cover:
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So far it has not been too hard to avoid the conversation becoming religious, thankfully it has not become a big issue. I think the after school nature of the program and the fact that it covers things that are outside the curriculum releases a lot of pressure. I had intended that the presenters "aim high" with the subject matter and leave the kids that are interested to use their own initiative to find out more; and there is plenty of evidence that this is happening based on reports of classroom discussions and students telling me about the scratch programs they have created. It really is not an intent to directly teach anything, but I have come to believe that there are many subjects that seem unsuitable (such as relativity) but in fact are more hard to believe than hard to understand. I have also come to believe that the single biggest barrier to the schools working well is lack of parental involvement. Getting some parents to come to the school and join in any event is a huge undertaking and I think is the biggest potential benefit of a program like this.
Perhaps we should just get the PTA to open a bar at the school
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Nullius in verba