The engineering design process is at the core of everything we do.
What is the Engineering Design Process?
The engineering design process, by definition, is a series of steps that engineers use to find a solution to a problem. These steps include defining the problem, brainstorming solutions, designing, and building a prototype of the solution, testing the solution, and improving it. (Engineering For Kids, 2020).
While it is not something you may actively think about when you are handling everyday problems, you would be surprised to know this process is utilized in plenty of your daily activities! (Engineering For Kids, 2020). Parents can help your children build the problem-solving skills by using this process. Here I will introduce an example using this process for the parents and your children.
Ask (Finding a problem): when the children were playing outside, they came to a big puddle, the distance of the puddle was too far for them to cross, they could not walk across it. After this, the children discussed and thought if we could put a piece of board above the puddle like a bridge. So, what kind of board can we put above? The children discussed and thought the board should carry our weight. And this board should be strong. Then, we are going to look for the stronger structure of the board.
Imaging and planning: we were going to do an experiment. We planned to test the different structures of the bridge. The children brainstormed and imagined 4 different structures of paper bridge. They would use the following materials: construction paper (They would use different colors to easily record the result.), 2 plastic cups, and an apple.
(Above is the materials and different structures that children discussed.)
There are 4 different structures:
Structure 1: Fold the paper in half. (the brown paper)
Structure 2: Make an oval by taping to paper strips together at their ends. The ends were slightly pinched. (the yellow paper)
Structure 3: Create a folded paper like a fan by folding a strip of paper horizontally. (the purple paper)
Structure 4: Create a folded paper like a fan by folding the other strip of paper horizontally. (the green paper)
Creating: After collecting all materials, the children began to test the structure of each paper bridge. They recorded each result and compared the results.
Test 1:
Use Structure 1 failed and the apple fell.
Test 2:
Use Structure 2 successfully. It can hold the apple.
Test 3:
Use Structure 3, it failed.
Test 4:
Use Structure 4 and successfully hold the apple.
Improving: from the 4 tests above, the children found that Structure 2 and Structure 4 were much stronger. They asked if there are any other structure that would make paper bridge much stronger? Children discussed and came up with a new idea: could we combine Structure 2 and Structure 4 to make the paper bridge much stronger? With this idea in mind, the children decided to use Structure 2 and Structure 4 to make a new paper bridge and test this new bridge next time.
The engineering design process enables to engage young children’s minds in solving real problems, parents can also help your children build this skill at home.
Reference:
Engineering For Kids. (2020, March 27). Importance of the engineering design process. Retrieved from: https://www.engineeringforkids.com/about/news/2020/march/importance-of-the-engineering-design-process/