Elementary School Engineering Design Field Day

The activities expose students to various engineering principles across a wide range of fields including aerodynamics (Design and Fly a Kite, Wind-Powered Sail Cars), collaborative problem-solving (Engineering Derby: Tool Ingenuity) and structural stability (Race to the Top! Modeling Skyscrapers, Straw Towers to the Moon). By holding the event in the form of a competition, students become deeply invested in designing and building their projects to beat their competitors’ designs. A concluding awards ceremony recognizes the winners of each competition for their achievements, setting an example for all students to excel in engineering.

Each individual engineering design field day “event” (activity) promotes engineering and design concepts that directly relate to real-world engineering problems. In each activity, students are presented with a problem to creatively solve within given material and time constraints. The culminating competition serves as a testing ground to evaluate whether their designs meet the criteria. For example, the designing and building of towers that test the strength-to-weight ratio as well as the weight of the towers themselves. Since weight serves as a measure of the overall material used, reduced weight simulates the economic advantages associated with fewer required construction materials while still meeting the project requirements. Furthermore, the project materials are fixed, so students must use their creativity to find optimal ways to exploit the materials at hand.

Competition is a common aspect of the engineering world. For example, “calls for proposals” essentially set up competitions among companies to win jobs. Winners are selected based upon economic, technical, efficiency and aesthetic criteria. To surpass their competitors, engineers must be creative and resourceful. Students are introduced to this concept through the field day activities.

Finally, in the engineering profession, entire teams must work together to complete projects. Cooperation and flexibility are necessary for success. These virtues are especially fostered through activities that require group collaboration such as in the Race to the Top! Modeling Skyscrapers and Engineering Derby: Tool Ingenuity activities.