Getting Started with Engineering

Fun engineering projects for kids

Does your kid's love of 'tinkering' resemble that of a budding Thomas Edison? Then Getting Started with Engineering is guaranteed to spark their fascination! The focused, easy-to-complete projects offered inside are designed to broaden their understanding of basic engineering principles, challenge their problem-solving skills, and sharpen their creativity--all while having fun along the way.

Engineers are experts on how things work--and this book is your youngster's best first step to developing the skills they need to think, design, and build things like the pros. The projects they'll complete feature a fun twist that appeal to their age group--from a tiny model roller coaster to a wearable toy that includes an electronic circuit--and the instructions are written in an easy-to-follow manner, making it possible for them to experience the pride and accomplishment of working independently.

• Appropriate for children aged 7-11

• Simple explanations guide children to complete three projects using household items

• The full-color design, short page count, and easy-to-follow instructions are designed to appeal to kids

• Brought to you by the trusted For Dummies brand

  If you have a little engineer that could, Getting Started with Engineering is a great way to encourage their fascination of figuring out how things work.

  Autorentext

Camille McCue, Ph.D, is a veteran STEM educator who has teletaught for NASA and PBS and instructed math, tech, and engineering in the classroom. She currently teaches in Las Vegas, NV.

Zusammenfassung
Fun engineering projects for kids Does your kid's love of 'tinkering' resemble that of a budding Thomas Edison? Then Getting Started with Engineering is guaranteed to spark their fascination! The focused, easy-to-complete projects offered inside are designed to broaden their understanding of basic engineering principles, challenge their problem-solving skills, and sharpen their creativityall while having fun along the way. Engineers are experts on how things workand this book is your youngster's best first step to developing the skills they need to think, design, and build things like the pros. The projects they'll complete feature a fun twist that appeal to their age groupfrom a tiny model roller coaster to a wearable toy that includes an electronic circuitand the instructions are written in an easy-to-follow manner, making it possible for them to experience the pride and accomplishment of working independently.

• Appropriate for children aged 7-11
• Simple explanations guide children to complete three projects using household items
• The full-color design, short page count, and easy-to-follow instructions are designed to appeal to kids

• Brought to you by the trusted For Dummies brand If you have a little engineer that could, Getting Started with Engineering is a great way to encourage their fascination of figuring out how things work.

  Inhalt
  Introduction 1

  About This Book 1

  About You 3

  About the Icons 4

  The First Step 4

  Project 1: Engineering 101 5

  What Is Engineering? 5

  Where Do Engineers Work? 5

  What Are Some Engineering Fields? 6

  What Is the Engineering Design Cycle? 7

  What Does a Design Look Like? 8

  What Is the Golden Rule of Engineering? 10

  What Is the Iron Triangle of Engineering? 10

  Mini Project: Classic Pocket Rocket 12

  Project 2: Touchdown Mars 13

  Introduction to Planetary Landers 13

  Materials 15

  Simulate a Landing with Technology 16

  Play with a descent to Mars 16

  Control a descent to Mars 18

  Design Your Mars Lander 19

  Build Your Mars Lander 21

  Test Your Mars Lander 24

  Improve Your Mars Lander 25

  Aerospace Engineering and the Iron Triangle 25

  Project 3: The Clock Is Ticking 27

  All Here, In Order, On Time. Let's Go! 27

  Materials 29

  Simulate a Simple Logistics Process 30

  Simulate a More Complex Logistics Process 32

  Plan Your Industrial Engineering Process 34

  Plan with a Gantt chart 34

  Plan by acting it out 36

  Implement Your Logistical Plan 37

  Evaluate Your Success 39

  Improve Your Process 39

  Iron Triangle of Engineering 40

  Gantt Charting with a Spreadsheet 40

  Project 4: Squeaky Clean Up 42

  Introduction to Oil Spill Clean Ups 42

  Materials 44

  Plan Your Oil Spill Clean-Up Process 45

  Plan to contain the oil 46

  Plan to skim the oil 46

  Plan to use sorbents 46

  Plan to disperse the oil 47

  Sketch your process 48

  Implement Your Clean-Up Process 49

  Simulate the oil spill 49

  Execute your clean-up plan 50

  Evaluate Your Success 51

  Improve Your Process 52

  Iron Triangle of Engineering 53

  Mini Project: Cleaning Feathers and Fur 54

  Project 5: Load the Bridge 55

  Civil Engineers Build the World 56

  Introduction to Bridges 56

  Materials 58

  Model Your Bridge with Technology 58

  Design Your Truss Bridge 63

  Build Your Pasta Bridge 66

  Test Your Pasta Bridge 68

  Improve Your Bridge 70

  Civil Engineering and the Iron Triangle 70

  Project 6: Electric Alien Cap 73

  Electronics 101 73

  Electrical circuits 74

  Symbols and schematics 74

  Series and parallel circuits 75

  Materials 77

  Design Your Electric Alien Cap 79

  Build Your Cap 80

  Get your components ready 80

  Mark your circuit onto the hat 81

  Stitch the positive connections in your circuit 81

  Stitch the ground connections in your circuit 83

  Test Your Circuit 85

  Improve Your Cap 85

  Electrical Engineering and the Iron Triangle 85

  Project 7: Now You're Cooking! 88

  Early Mechanical Engineering 88

  Archimedes the engineer 89

  Energy everywhere 90

  The First Law of Thermodynamics 90

  Materials 91

  Design Your Solar Oven 92

  The Second Law of Thermodynamics 92

  Oven design criteria 92

  Build Your Design 94

  Build the food chamber 94

  Add the oven insulation 95

  Attach the solar reflector 97

  Test Your Design Plan 98

  Improve Your Cooker 99

  Solar Cooking and the Iron Triangle 100

  Mini Project: Vdara Death Ray 102

  Project 8: Roller Coaster Mania 103

  Introduction to Roller Coasters 104

  Mass in a roller coaster system 105

  Energy in a roller coaster system 105

  Materials 106

  Model Your Coaster with Technology 106

  Design Your Roller Coaster 112

  Build Your Roller Coaster 113

  Test Your Roller Coaster 116

  Improve Your Roller Coaster 117

  Entertainment Engineering and the Iron Triangle 117

  Appendix: Cool Tools (and More!) 120