ENGINEER is an EU-funded educational initiative that aims to incorporate engineering into science and technology studies in elementary schools and science museums. Initiated and led by the Bloomfield Science Museum, ENGINEER began in 2011 and ran until 2014. Content created within the ENGINEER framework has been implemented in science and technology curricula in Israel and several other countries.
ENGINEER developed teaching units that incorporate different engineering branches in science and technology studies in elementary schools. These units were based on the successful and proven Engineering is Elementary (EiE) program developed by Boston‘s Museum of Science (BMOS), now widely used in elementary schools throughout the US, and reaching around 2 million students. BMOS played an instructional and advisory role in the development of ENGINEER.
ENGINEER developed teaching units encompassing ten different engineering fields, including materials science and engineering, water engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and biomedical engineering. Every teaching unit features one engineering design challenge relevant to the real-life issues, which the students solve by following a five-step design process. The engineering design challenges are worked into the school’s science curriculum, presented during science lessons, and worked on in small study groups. Every challenge introduces students to diverse scientific disciplines, technological applications and the engineering design process.
The project spanned 26 institutions from twelve countries: ten science museums, ten schools, universities, professional organizations from Europe, Boston's Museum of Science (BMOS) and a project management company in Israel. In every country, a science museum and an elementary school worked together to develop one engineering design challenge unit in one engineering field. Every teaching unit has been translated into ten languages and can be freely accessed online.
Within this framework, the Bloomfield Science Museum partnered with Netiv Zvulun School in Modi'in and developed, in collaboration with the school’s science coordinator, a teaching unit in the field of biomedical engineering, dedicated to designing a device for measuring exhalation volume.
Country: Israel
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Huff and puff! Designing a device for measuring exhalation volume
Science Field: Respiratory system, volume measurement
Engineering Field: Biomedical engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 6-10
Country: Italy
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Knee deep: Designing and constructing a water pond
Science Field: Investigating soils and materials
Engineering Field: Geotechnical engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 8-9
Country: The Netherlands
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Music to the ears: Designing and creating a sound generator
Science Field: Sound
Engineering Field: Acoustic engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 6-7
Country: Sweden
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Super Sucker: Designing a machine to clean up litter
Science Field: Electricity
Engineering Field: Electrical engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 6-7
Country: Czech Republic
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Life support: Direct water flow to plants
Science Field: Plants
Engineering Field: Agricultural engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 7-8
Country: Denmark
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Frisky feet: Winter-proof a pair of shoes
Science Field: Heat transfer, insulation
Engineering Field: Materials Engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 8-9
Country: Greece
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: High and dry: Protecting objects on a floating platform
Science Field: Floating and Sinking
Engineering Field: Ocean Engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 11-12
Country: France
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: Popular mechanics: Becoming a designer of machines
Science Field: Energy
Engineering Field: Mechanics
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 8-9
Country: The UK
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: High flyers: Building a glider with everyday materials
Science Field: Energy
Engineering Field: Mechanics
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 8-9
Country: Germany
Teaching Unit + Design Challenge: A fine balance: Building a hanging sculpture
Science Field:Balance and forces
Engineering Field: Mechanical engineering
Target Audience: Elementary school students
Instructional Hours: 4-5
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