No one is too young to be an engineer

Anyone can learn the basics of engineering, and maybe they should.

That’s the idea behind the Museum of Science’s Engineering is Elementary (EiE) program which aims to get children more involved in engineering at a younger age.

EiE is creating a curriculum that has been researched and tested in classrooms around the country to integrate more engineering into elementary school science and other topics.

The EiE curriculum is 20 units covering various science topics, using different fields of engineering and including storybooks made to appeal to and include children from around the world, of different backgrounds and abilities.

Students are challenged to apply their scientific knowledge to hands-on engineering projects that allow them to solve problems by designing solutions.

The program also helps elementary school teachers learn more about engineering concepts by offering professional development workshops and resources.

The three main goals of the EiE program are to: increase children’s technological literacy, increase elementary educators’ abilities to teach engineering and technology to their students, and modify systems of education to include engineering at the elementary level.

Introducing engineering into the elementary school classroom is not only important to spark the interest of future engineers, but could also be effective in creating more of an interest in education in general to keep kids in school and teach them technical and problem-solving skills that can be applied in whatever field they choose. 

Sponsors of the program include the National Science Foundation, Liberty Mutual Foundation, Intel Foundation, Cisco Systems Foundation, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Massachusetts Board of Education Pipeline Fund, U.S. Institute of Museum of Library Services, U.S. Small Business Administration, Hewlett-Packard, and Millipore.