Erica M. Mentone
As educators, we need to expose children to a variety of careers throughout their school experience; engineering demands character traits and skills that teachers are always trying to develop in students. Industrial engineers are problem-solvers, data- analyzers, decision-makers leaders, logical thinkers, researchers, and risk-takers. Throughout this unit, students will work together to develop and optimize a process for making chocolate-chip cookies. This unit, developed for second graders, can be adapted for students in grades one through five. This unit teaches students about the career of engineering, while capitalizing on their strengths in an engaging hands-on unit. I have incorporated learning experiences that will expose students to the career of engineering while developing valuable skills.
This unit includes background knowledge for teachers about engineering, a scope and sequence, a bibliography with resources for teachers and students, and hands-on experiments meant to expose the children to engineering and the scientific process.
(Developed for Interdisciplinary, grade 3; recommended for Interdisciplinary Science, Mathematics, and Writing, grades 2-4)