Elementary school engineering for fictional clients in children’s literature

Abstract

The stories children read in elementary school can provide rich problem spaces for engineering design. In this chapter, we present snippets from our project, Integrating Engineering and Literacy (IEL), of students in grades three through five engineering for fictional clients. Children draw from the text to identify problems their clients encounter, consider and plan possible solutions, and test and revise their ideas. One finding is that children’s interest in the characters and understanding of the stories supports their thinking as nascent engineers. They use their understanding of the world and draw on past experiences to act as engineers while attending to relevant details the story. Educators should see these as strengths and build on them, listening to students and their ideas.