Engineering Presentation to 5 and 6 year olds 5

[GDavis14]

I need some help on this one. My 6 year old son told his teacher that I am an engineer and I should come speak to his class after one of their recent science discussions. She has now requested that I come do this. I am up againist tough competition. A few weeks back a fireman came in to discuss fire safety. He gave them a goody bag with all types of neat things in it. Please give me your ideas for a good topic that will make these kids remember the engineering career choice in the future.

My son tells me I need to bring something for each kid if I really want them to remember the presentation or demonstration.

 

[SnTMan]

GDavis14, see this thread for starters: thread730-288029

For handouts? No question, pocket protectors

Regards,

Mike

 

[racookpe1978]

Bring a bicyle.

Take it apart - better yet - Have the kids (boys and girls!) take it apart with wrenches, screwdrivers, and the proper tools.

As each part comes off, talk about the stress in the steel, the forces, the movement of the part, the tensions, the strains in the thread, the lubrication in the grease, the plastics, the paint, the chrome, the rubber, the grip of the tires on the road, the looseness (or tightness of the screws) the sizes (bring a little caliper and a tape measure, the diameters. Bring a magnifying glass = Have them look at the scratches and the rust and the threads.

Don't just talk. DO! (Better yet - Have them "DO" it....)

(And I'm the one who pulled our sailboat and trailer to the high school for my daughter to use as a training "aid" for HER freshman presentation on "How to make a sail boat" ... )

 

[1gibson]

Toothpick bridges, paper airplanes, card houses. Probably card houses

 

[Twoballcane]

How about Legos:

http://www.legoeducation.us/content/item.aspx?CategoryID=58&ap=2&art=27&bhcp=1

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."
“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity”

 

[MechEngr07]

Remember their attention span is about 12 seconds on a good day. Keep everything moving along quickly, try quick 'oh and ahhhh' demonstrations. If it is a sunny day, try a parabolic hot dog cooker.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Anything that flies, makes noise or smoke, moves, looks gross, etc.

Rubber band airplane, Estes rocket or better(safer) a water rocket. Mentos and Coke!!

Look at few Myth Busters...

 

[zdas04]

I had to do this once for 4th graders. I put together some words on what an engineer does, but I started with a folded paper bridge (no tape or fasteners) and every few seconds I would pick up a book and put it on the bridge. As I finished, the bridge colapsed and books went everywhere. I left them with "an engineer should have been able to calculate when to stop piling books". It was a big hit.

David

 

[btrueblood]

From a long departed job, I have a small research pressure vessel (ok, fine - it was a liquid propellant rocket combustion chamber), that was operated through an "excursion of input flow rate beyond design limits". Very neat talking aid, the inconel is laid back like a peeled orange. That got oohs and aahs, whereas talking about stresses and material strengths leading up to pulling that out of the box was getting drooping eyelids. Even if you can't bring in stuff that goes bang or makes smoke, bring in the results of it, or pictures of it, or videos. Even a short video of a bolt being tensioned to failure or a seal popping off in a hydro test can be interesting enough to make what you are talking about interesting.

 

[Tmoose]

sounds like fun

 

[rmw]

Everyone knows that engineers drive trains. Take a train set down there and let them play with it and give each of them an engineer's hat.

rmw

 

[zekeman]

A 6 yearold has zero interest in stresses and deformation.

He/she wants to see something striking and dynamic--flying rockets spaceships, and lots of associated noise.

You're not going to make future engineers, just entertainment at this point.The fireman has it easier.

 

[Cockroach]

Yeah, this is a tough one and a problem they just don't teach you in engineering classes at university. The attention span of a six year old is roughly thirty seconds. So as suggested by this forum commentary, it needs to be dynamic and eye catchy. Paper airplanes is okay, but really, kindergarden kids won't follow your instructions to fold paper as instructed.

I have often combined "art" with a hands on demonstration were the class can do the activity at once. Bring some popsickle sticks and glue a bridge together, want to save the wood for the environmentalist movement, then use plastic straws. I once used a chemistry breaker and small torch to boil water to push a windmill that raised a small weight for a Grade 1 class. Obviously you do the demonstration, get the kids involved with a discussion on what they think is going on or predict what may happen. You'd be surprised.

But most importantly, you need to have fun with it! The kids find "fun" to be contagious. You may even plan that small seed into their heart that will inspire them some day. After all, wasn't it that one special teacher that reached through to us and turned us on to mathematics, science and technology?

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

 

[Artisi]

Have a look at Julius Sumner Miller- although a physicist maybe a few ideas in there for you,

http://juliussumnermiller.org/

It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts. (Sherlock Holmes - A Scandal in Bohemia.)

 

[rmw]

Over the years, when people have asked me what I do for a living (as opposed to what I am) I have learned to turn to the wife who immediately answers because she knows how to tell them in non technical, non jargon-ese, non detailed language some basic facts in a way that they will go away satisfied, not that they gain much real knowledge about what I actually do. But they do get an answer and some basic information that they can understand.

If I answer, (1) the certainly don't know any more than when I started, (2) they look bored, and (3) they are usually looking around or at their watches or mentioning that they hear their mothers calling them.

I suggest you take the question to a school teachers forum, not an engineering tips site and ask those that are schooled in how to deal with 5-6 year olds for hours every day and actually teach them something.

If you can't find such a forum, then start asking around amoung your contacts, social, church, gym, neighborhood, pub, etc for some Elementary School teachers to talk to, and be sure to ask for "Early" Elementary teachers.

The wife's profession is EE (Elementary Education, not Electrical Engineering) and I am amazed when I watch her work with young children. It is a world entirely different than what I am schooled for and she has skills that I can't touch.

If this assignment were mine, I'd have her heavily involved and I would be listening to what she had to say (which she would say would be a new thing.)

rmw

 

[dicksewerrat]

Engineers get to play in the dirt. Go to a Cat Equip. dealer. get earthmoving toys. Dig a hole, make a river bed. Have them use the toys to build a dam. Get the hose. Get enough toys for everyone. May have to hit more than one equip. dealer.

Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.

http://WWW.amlinereast.com

 

[dicksewerrat]

Sorry about that. I'm a CE. We play in dirt.

Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.

http://WWW.amlinereast.com

 

[kingnero]

Maybe an idea (same kind of above, but with mech. background))
while steel isn't that attractive to small children (due to weight, it isn't "clean", has sharp corners, and welding, machining, isn't practical at school), wood is.

Couldn't you do something using one (or several) of those?
Maybe have them build the highest tower, a bridge with the longest horizontal span, such things?
Perhaps even using wood glue as bonding agent (so they can do something they haven't done before)?

 

[kingnero]

It does make you think, doesn't it?

We're all used to explain our ideas/point of view to collegues, dealing with complex situations, solving problems, and so on,
however for talking (let alone communicating in both directions) to 6-year olds, we're with our backs against a wall.

Over 15 replies, and no-one can tell you exactly how to handle this "trivial" assignment.

Best of luck!

 

[Jabberwocky]

The schoolchildren forum was mine, and I had it easy with the middle schoolers compared to this. As has been said, this is entertainment more than education at that age level. I would find some "engineering" parts and just have a show and tell session, anything that moves or makes noise is even better.

At the end of the day too, don't stress it too much - do any of us remember things we learned in school at 6 years old?