I am sure that there will be a number of people out there wondering how we actually record engineering activities in our log books, so I thought I would post an example of work done following the recent Fluor catapult challenge.
The key to making our project a success at Rode Heath has always been to try and incorporate engineering into existing lessons, wherever possible. Most engineering tasks can be linked to at least one other core curriculum subject; whether it is extending a science lesson by looking at the application of scientific ideas; making notes on the successes and failures of an activity in Literacy; or using formulas in maths to work out cost implications versus product success.
This engineering challenge had clear links with maths. Indeed there was a table provided in the activity for children to work out which catapult was the most successful, based on distance travelled against cost of materials – something that engineers continually have to think about when designing real-life products.
Below are some examples from a Year 4 log book of how this activity was captured – in a Literacy and maths lesson.
Alongside all of this, will have been the discussions taking place amongst the teams; the hands-on experimentation as the children adapted and improved their products and the sheer joy when the ball actually landed in the basket – all of these valuable lessons for the children to learn.
Of course, the engineering work could just as easily be recorded in the book associated with that lesson – and it frequently is.
Take this Year 1 work from their recent Super Hero project – a great example of engineering, but produced during a Literacy lesson.
And, in Year 2, teachers used the Literacy lesson to write a recount of how the children had made rubber-powered boats – part of their Inventions project.
We are now developing some stickers, so that it will be very evident where engineering is being used across the curriculum.
It’s all about being creative – thinking like an engineer, in fact!
Think Like An Engineer 