EXERCISE #1 - Have your student write down as many types of engineering as they can.
Well I will be the first to tell you that Engineering is not my area of expertise and I enjoy learning as much about it as the rest of you. That is why I have outsourced the majority of all engineering curriculum to my professional engineer friends and advanced high school robotics students. Over the next few weeks we will have original content created by engineers and world champion FIRST robotics students to explain this stuff about 4,000 times better than I could ever do. In my previous career, I worked with literally thousands of engineers in over a decade and what they did still amazes me to this day. It's one of the main reasons I created Short Circuit Robotics in the first place....to inspire young learners to take on STEM in a way that will prepare them for future success and engineering is an amazing path for that success and confidence. I hope you will be as inspired to learn about engineering as much as I have been.
Let's focus week 1 on Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering is a branch of engineering that applies the principles of Mechanics and Materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the design, production, and operation of machines and tools. (definition was stolen from the internet)
EXERCISE #2 - Create a fun pulley system out of string and anything that can resemble a pulley.
I will say that my kids and I totally did this over the weekend and had an absolute blast figuring out how to not only set up the pulleys but also feeling the effects that adding multiple pulleys had on lifting a very heavy object. By the time we added our 5th pulley, my 3rd-grade daughter could practically lift 25 pounds with one hand.
Week 2 we will focus on Chemical Engineering!!