As I read through the book I'm constantly focused on what I can directly use within my STEM class and then how can some of this put used in my wife's 1st grade classroom. I was really intrigued by the author's use of nursery rhymes to show that children are surrounded with stories of structural failure.
I've made it a goal this summer to find reading material for my students to use throughout the course. Petroski has provided me one idea and some usable examples. I know that I need to add more reading and writing into my STEM course and although nursery rhymes may seem very simplistic, having the students find their own stories and analyze them would be a great lesson. It would also begin to provide a framework for more complex reading analysis.
I'm hoping for even more ideas as our blog continues
I just found this link online: www.integratingengineering.org/K-5_literature_course_111307.pdf
It gives some good examples that may be of use.
Would it be fun to read sci fi and challenge students to think up ways of doing some of the crazy stuff? Looking at them as an engineer would and comparing that to the dramatists view point could be interesting. Conversely, stories written in the distant past (ya know, 1990) can highlight the role that engineering has played in changing society. How would cell phones have changed Little House on the Prairie?
ReplyDeletegood idea. Maybe we could pull in some LA teachers and work on a team lesson?
DeleteOne of the books at the museum yesterday was about teaching science through science fiction. I didn't sign it out but it might be a good resource for an entire unit about literature, science and engineering.
DeleteI loved the Goldilocks idea. Thanks for the resource. Many times we rewrite known stories with different outcomes. Also we have a persuasive writing unit that we do where the students give advice to characters in stories. Got me thinking of how to incorporate engineering into my writing lessons.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great link, Jeff! What level do you teach? Picture books are often a good place to start with any age student. I found this book on Amazon and thought it looked good:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Engineering-ABCs-Engineers-Shape-World/dp/1933916516/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342549422&sr=8-1&keywords=engineering+the+abc
I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with the book or has used it. The author also has a web site that looked useful:
http://www.pattyobriennovak.com/wordpress/
I teach high school science, my wife teaches 1st grade in the same district (Augusta). I'm keeping my eyes open so that I can help her so she can help me work with the whole district.
DeleteI got a chance to Look at the book "Engineering the A, B, Cs: How engineers shape our world" when we went to the Museum of Science and I think it would be a good introduction or jumping off point for teaching about engineering at any grade level.
DeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteI just got lost in that fabulous website. I am going to the Museum of Science in Boston tomorrow and I believe they may have a series of children's literature with a focus on posing questions and engineering. I will share when I learn more.
But this chapter in the book and these posts have helped me think about any book that we read to children differently...with an engineering lens.
http://changetheequation.org/featured-programs/engineering-elementary
Deletehttp://www.mos.org/eie/
Here are 2 from the Museum of Science Engineering is Elementary Program
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteI have another suggestion for Kathy, Jeff's wife, and others looking for stuff for little kids, or big ones for that matter.
This is a book collection, Gunter's Fables, that relates to the early steps of the Eng/Des process- defining the problem (a most critical step!) The books are a little odd, but they truly challenge the way we look at problem situations.
The idea is, if we can train kids to redefine the problems we face in the world they may be able to come up with solutions that we are apparently blind to, based upon our own conditioning. If that is not a reason to introduce engineering to elementary students, what is!
Gunter Pauli (economist/visionary/ entrepreneur) published a series of little books for very young children about designing a better future world and solving problems. I bought and used them with elementary students and they did help kids think about problems as part of larger systems, coming up with out-of-the-box solutions, often using aspects of the problem itself to generate the solution (kind of like judo, using the weight of the opponent to defeat him). The little books are written as "fables" with a personification of all the players in an ecological system (human, snail, bacteria, etc.) working through a problem together to meet the needs of all. I thought they were charming, but I did need to paraphrase some because the grammar of the bilingual Spanish/English was a little awkward. Each fable is short, read in 5 minutes, and very visual, which the kids liked.
Gunter's Fables deal with systems, with complex problems with several interacting players that are likeable characters. I would probably choose to start a unit with them because they generate compassion and put a face on a problem situation. This gives kids a reason to actually care about their solution! The kids like the characters and want to solve the problem in a way that works for all. And educators should be helping kids think about ramifications down the road, and on other species and aspects of the physical world that might be affected.
After this start, I would use the more typical engineering challenges (build a paper bridge that supports pennies, etc.) where the task and the criteria are already a given.
Professional engineers focus on this second phase in order to apply the math and science. Little kids may not know the math and science yet, but as young citizens could learn the context for engineering as part of how society decides what kind of world it wants to build.
Link for Gunter's Fables:
http://www.gunterpauli.com/Gunter_Pauli/Learning.html
Link for Gunter Pauli's other work:
http://www.zeri.org/ZERI/History.html
Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives
(this is Pauli's organization's website. ZERI supports design entrepreneurs' projects around the world, which it links to. In trying to figure out where Pauli came from I imagine he must be a wealthy investor inspired by Stewart Brand or such)
(site includes YouTube video "The Blue Economy" about designing uses for waste streams in order to move beyond the Green Economy. This very short video is Pauli's goal in a nutshell, animated, and understandable by elementary kids, and there are not a lot of economics videos that work for elementary kids!)
Kelly
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the information on Gunter Pauli. I watched "The Blue Economy" and I will be able to use it in my AP Environmental Science course. It sounds like the fables have a sound basis in the systems approach. I often use children's books in my science classes - it can hook in a lot of students.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI just spent some time on the link, and I am impressed. I think there are numerous suggestions that may be useful with second graders. I teach character development using Goldilocks and the Three Bears,and can easily incorporate lessons in design development regarding securing the Three Bears door.