With National Engineers Week taking place from February 18–24 (this year’s theme is “Welcome to the Future!”) and Introduce A Girl to Engineering Day happening on February 22, this is the perfect time to add some engineering lessons or activities to your class schedule!
Many organizations offer live and on-demand events and various resources to celebrate this week. Engineers Without Borders is kicking the week off with an Engineering Extravaganza on Sunday, February 18—a great way to get yourself into an engineering mindset! Discover Engineering offers an on-demand event called “The Future of Engineering”, as well as an educator planning toolkit for both National Engineers Week (with additional Spanish resources and a participation certificate) and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (also available in Spanish and including a certificate). Check out your local colleges, universities, and engineering organizations for local events, too.
Add some engineering activities and lessons to your class schedule in honor of the week or the day! Try out some monthly STEM career chats for grades 3–8 from Discover Engineering, or The Smithsonian’s two easy-to-implement engineering activities. STEM in the Middle also furnishes four middle school activities. The American Society for Civil Engineers provides a variety of activities that can be implemented with easy-to-find materials. You can also check out Teach Engineering and Try Engineering, both of which offer engineering lesson plans for all ages as well as a lesson plan toolkit. The National Science Foundation website contains a page of engineering classroom resources or, if you want to go big, check out the Future City Competition, where “students design a futuristic city with innovative solutions to some of today’s most pressing issues.”
These resources make it easy to celebrate National Engineers Week and Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day in your classroom. Your students deserve it! As always, check out TeachersFirst engineering resources and related blog posts. You never know—you might start the spark that leads one (or more) of your students to become an engineer!