What is Engineering?

Students will learn of the definition of engineering and complete an optional poster assignment on a chosen engineering discipline. Students will be introduced to the Engineering Design Process and apply it to a quick project. 

Lesson Notes

Engineering - the study of "how things work" 

• Taking a pure science and applying the knowledge into a practical application 

Optional Lesson Activity

Naming Engineering Disciplines 

1. Group students into groups of 3-4 

2. Have one student be the notetaker 

3. Each student in their groups will use the internet to list out as many engineering disciplines while the notetaker labels them in their notebook 

4. Give the groups 10-20 minutes to research and come up with their list 

5. After time is up, 

   1. Ask the first group to give one engineering discipline 

   2. Teacher writes it on the board 

   3. If the discipline shows up in at least one other groups' lists, ask all groups to cross it off their lists 

   4. If the discipline does not appear in other groups' lists, have the first group circle it in their notebook 

   5. Rotate to the second group and repeat the same process 

   6. Continue to repeat this process by circling back to the first group and stop until only every group has either crossed off or circled disciplines in their list 

   7. When all groups have exhausted their disciplines, have each group count the number of CIRCLED disciplines

   8. The group with the most number of CIRCLED disciplines gets their first picks of their chosen discipline for the poster homework assignment 

   9. Each student should have a unique engineering discipline 

Sample Engineering Disciplines 

• Mechanical

• Electrical

• Computer

• Food

• Robotics

• Environmental

• Architectural

• Nuclear

• Software

• Systems

• Chemical

• Petroleum

• Transportation

• Geothermal

• Aerospace

• Industrial

• Biomedical

• Biotechnology

• Civil

• Fire Protection 

Optional Poster Homework Assignment

Chosen Discipline Poster

With the student's chosen engineering discipline, student must answer the following questions in their visual: 

• What is your chosen engineering discipline? 

• Explanation of your engineering discipline

• Sample projects this engineer might do 

• What is the average salary? 

• Is there a company in your area that does work in this engineering discipline? What company is it? 

• What kind of work does the company do in your area? 

• Provide some example projects 

Students will present their presentation and poster on their engineering discipline. 

*Recommend to assign this homework over a weekend or a few days.