How Do You Teach Engineering In Grades K And One?

As part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program titled “K-6 Gets a Piece of the PIEE (Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education),” graduate fellows and undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Worcester, MA have implemented a technology and engineering curriculum in kindergarten and grade one in the Worcester Public Schools (WPS) System. This follows successful implementation of the technology and engineering curriculum in the first two years of the program in grades two through six. This project is also part of the NSF Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) program, the goal of which is to involve engineering graduate students with K-12 science and engineering education. Massachusetts is one of the few states to have mandated the teaching of engineering and technology topics from kindergarten through grade twelve. Needless to say, the approach to teaching engineering that is suitable for the university, high school, middle school, or fifth and six grade levels is unworkable in kindergarten and first grade. For example, the students cannot read or write! Nevertheless, concepts such as creative design, materials selection, and proper tool use can be effectively taught if approached in the appropriate way. Graduate fellows have written and illustrated a set of picture books that provides a particularly effective introduction to these topics. Curriculum plans, representative lessons, program successes, and lessons learned, are described below.