Engineering careers activities

These resources cover many types of engineering, but the common theme is that they contain activities that pupils could complete to show how engineers solve problems through the application of science and design.

The 'What is engineering?' resource contains a useful presentation 'Engineers don't all wear hard hats' to introduce what engineers do. This could be adapted by a STEM Ambassador to talk about the problem they are trying to solve. The presentation could be combined with a pupil hands on engineering activity to ensure high engagement and impact. Examples of some suitable activities in this collection cover:

  • Designing a simple wind turbine to lift a cup off the floor - Wind power STEM challenge
  • Making a water filter - Water for everyone everywhere
  • Designing houses for different parts of the world - Shelter for the world
  • Constructing a sturdy structure - Den Day
  • Designing of a ship which needs to break through sea ice - Ice Breaker
  • Designing a boat to carry more passengers
  • Investigating the best way to load cargo on a boat
  • Using fruit to power lights - Fruit Lights
  • Building a bridge form one piece of paper- Bridges and structures
  • Modelling linkage mechanisms
  • Looking at simple electrical circuits by making a steady hand game - Exciting electricity
  • Building a balanced hanging sculpture
  • Making a tower from spaghetti
  • Investigating the forces affecting buildings - Vertically challenged
  • Using different types of envelope to link design with function - High Flyers
  • Designing a push along toy to meet set design criteria - How will your roly poly move?

With these resources they provide a source of inspiration for some hands on activities that will work. Many of them have been written for teachers so include parts which are not relevant for STEM Ambassadors. 

For further information about the STEM Ambassador Programme and for how to request a STEM Ambassador or volunteer, visit https://www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors 

Resources

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Spaghetti Towers

Aimed at primary learners, this resource asks children to design and build a tower using spaghetti and marshmallows. This challenge links design and technology, mathematics and science as children use problem-solving strategies and knowledge of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes to build their towers....

Vertically Challenged

Aimed at primary level, the activities within this pack demonstrate key ideas and concepts used in designing and constructing buildings such as: how levers and pulleys work, the properties of materials and the forces involved in different structures. Activities include: making a lever to lift a grown up, making...

High Flyers: Building a Glider with Everyday Materials

Aimed at upper primary, this resource contains a series of lessons which explore forces and flight through a practical challenge where children work in teams to investigate materials and then design, make and test their own gliders. The first lesson sets the scene and introduces the problem as well as some basic...

How Will Your Roly Poly Move?

One of the units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. Students design and make a simple push-along toy (a roly poly) using a mixture of found materials, paper and card.

The toy should be designed to provide amusement in both its appearance and the ways it moves. It may be for the...

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