GENERATING INTEREST FOR ENGINEERING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION THROUGH A BOOK ABOUT DISSECTION

摘要

In today's world, it is critical to continually improve and develop new educational practices. Compared to developed and developing countries around the world, especially in science, mathematics, and engineering, the United States is falling behind. One of the most prominent reasons is the lack of interest in these subjects. In order to reverse this trend, it is important to develop new ways to creatively spark interest in engineering and natural sciences early on in a student's educational career. The scope of this project was to develop a children's book that introduced mechanical dissections. Along with the book, an in class presentation was developed for early elementary students in Kindergarten and 1st grade, with the goal of inspiring interest in engineering as a whole. This presentation was then used in local elementary school classrooms to gauge how such a program would fare in a typical elementary level classroom. Overall the project produced successful results. Not only were the students intrigued and excited to see the presentation, but they also learned more of the information than was originally expected. Through different media, the students were able to explore and question how and why a household appliance worked. This interaction with engineering concepts at a young age could prove to be very beneficial in the future.