Thinking Like An Engineer
WEEK 1
Student Objectives:
 I can define the following: inventor, invention, engineer, innovation
 I will become familiar with different ways engineers and inventors do very
much of the same thing.
 I will develop an awareness of inventions and engineering and begin to
understand how they contribute to the quality of our lives.
Vocabulary: Inventor, Invention, Engineer, Patent
Materials: Power Point Presentation (includes):
Introduction to the Unit
Vocabulary (should write in journal)
Invention Trivia Quiz & Answer Sheet
Discussion slide of Year 2121
Explanation of Worlds Ten Greatest Inventions (done as a team of 4)
Student Handouts:
“The World’s Ten Greatest Inventions” (done as a team)
“In the Year 2121” (homework)
“Inventors, Famous and Not-so-Famous”
“Pretest” (On document camera or can copy) OPTIONAL
“Speedy Inventions” (homework)
Meet an Engineer (homework or lab)
Lesson/Procedure:
1. Introduce students to the Overview of “Thinking Like an Engineer” Explain
that they will be asked to think like an engineer and will be creating and
testing a variety of working models of inventions that spin, fly, move,
launch and zoom across a surface.
2. Remind them that it is important that they try to collect many of the
materials from the Supply List as possible. (Family, friends, and neighbors
can help out with this.
3. Explain that this week they will learn about inventions and their impact on
our lifestyle and how they may have changed over the years.
4. Have students brainstorm their definitions of Invention.
5. Have students brainstorm their definitions of Engineer.
6. Compare the ways Inventors and Engineers do very much of the same kind
of thing and record in journals.
7. Define and record the following vocabulary:
Invent- to produce something previously unknown by the use of ingenuity
or imagination.
Invention- a new device, method or process developed from study and
experimentation
Engineer- a person who uses math and science to help us understand the
world and to apply what they know to improve things and to solve problems in
our lives.
8. Take the Invention Trivia Quiz (in Power Point or hard copy provided)
9. Go over the answers.
10. Discuss Patent
11. Using teams of 3-4, complete “The World’s Ten Greatest Inventions”
activity.
12. Discuss the “Famous and Not So Famous” Inventors
13. Introduce the “Speedy Inventions” activity. Model how to plot the correct
answers on the bar graph. Allow to complete if time allows; otherwise
homework.
14. Assign “In the Year of 2121” and allow them to create a car of the future!
15. Optional: (or Extra Credit): A pretest from Inventions, Inventors and You.
Students are encouraged to work on this pretest with friends and family
and can even use resources to complete this activity. This is an awesome
way to incorporate the use of resources such as the encyclopedia, Internet,
and various websites and links.
(Could also do on document camera)