Getting Started with Engineering: Think Like an Engineer!

Fun engineering projects for kids Does your kid's love of 'tinkering' resemble that of a budding Thomas Edison? Then Getting Started with Engineering is guaranteed to spark their fascination! The focused, easy-to-complete projects offered inside are designed to broaden their understanding of basic engineering principles, challenge their problem-solving skills, and sharpen their creativity—all while having fun along the way. Engineers are experts on how things work—and this book is your youngster's best first step to developing the skills they need to think, design, and build things like the pros. The projects they'll complete feature a fun twist that appeal to their age group—from a tiny model roller coaster to a wearable toy that includes an electronic circuit—and the instructions are written in an easy-to-follow manner, making it possible for them to experience the pride and accomplishment of working independently. Appropriate for children aged 7-11 Simple explanations guide children to complete three projects using household items The full-color design, short page count, and easy-to-follow instructions are designed to appeal to kids Brought to you by the trusted For Dummies brand If you have a little engineer that could, Getting Started with Engineering is a great way to encourage their fascination of figuring out how things work.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 About This Book 1 About You 3 About the Icons 4 The First Step 4 Project 1: Engineering 101 5 What Is Engineering? 5 Where Do Engineers Work? 5 What Are Some Engineering Fields? 6 What Is the Engineering Design Cycle? 7 What Does a Design Look Like? 8 What Is the Golden Rule of Engineering? 10 What Is the Iron Triangle of Engineering? 10 Mini Project: Classic Pocket Rocket 12 Project 2: Touchdown Mars 13 Introduction to Planetary Landers 13 Materials 15 Simulate a Landing with Technology 16 Play with a descent to Mars 16 Control a descent to Mars 18 Design Your Mars Lander 19 Build Your Mars Lander 21 Test Your Mars Lander 24 Improve Your Mars Lander 25 Aerospace Engineering and the Iron Triangle 25 Project 3: The Clock Is Ticking 27 All Here, In Order, On Time. Let’s Go! 27 Materials 29 Simulate a Simple Logistics Process 30 Simulate a More Complex Logistics Process 32 Plan Your Industrial Engineering Process 34 Plan with a Gantt chart 34 Plan by acting it out 36 Implement Your Logistical Plan 37 Evaluate Your Success 39 Improve Your Process 39 Iron Triangle of Engineering 40 Gantt Charting with a Spreadsheet 40 Project 4: Squeaky Clean Up 42 Introduction to Oil Spill Clean Ups 42 Materials 44 Plan Your Oil Spill Clean-Up Process 45 Plan to contain the oil 46 Plan to skim the oil 46 Plan to use sorbents 46 Plan to disperse the oil 47 Sketch your process 48 Implement Your Clean-Up Process 49 Simulate the oil spill 49 Execute your clean-up plan 50 Evaluate Your Success 51 Improve Your Process 52 Iron Triangle of Engineering 53 Mini Project: Cleaning Feathers and Fur 54 Project 5: Load the Bridge 55 Civil Engineers Build the World 56 Introduction to Bridges 56 Materials 58 Model Your Bridge with Technology 58 Design Your Truss Bridge 63 Build Your Pasta Bridge 66 Test Your Pasta Bridge 68 Improve Your Bridge 70 Civil Engineering and the Iron Triangle 70 Project 6: Electric Alien Cap 73 Electronics 101 73 Electrical circuits 74 Symbols and schematics 74 Series and parallel circuits 75 Materials 77 Design Your Electric Alien Cap 79 Build Your Cap 80 Get your components ready 80 Mark your circuit onto the hat 81 Stitch the positive connections in your circuit 81 Stitch the ground connections in your circuit 83 Test Your Circuit 85 Improve Your Cap 85 Electrical Engineering and the Iron Triangle 85 Project 7: Now You’re Cooking! 88 Early Mechanical Engineering 88 Archimedes the engineer 89 Energy everywhere 90 The First Law of Thermodynamics 90 Materials 91 Design Your Solar Oven 92 The Second Law of Thermodynamics 92 Oven design criteria 92 Build Your Design 94 Build the food chamber 94 Add the oven insulation 95 Attach the solar reflector 97 Test Your Design Plan 98 Improve Your Cooker 99 Solar Cooking and the Iron Triangle 100 Mini Project: Vdara Death Ray 102 Project 8: Roller Coaster Mania 103 Introduction to Roller Coasters 104 Mass in a roller coaster system 105 Energy in a roller coaster system 105 Materials 106 Model Your Coaster with Technology 106 Design Your Roller Coaster 112 Build Your Roller Coaster 113 Test Your Roller Coaster 116 Improve Your Roller Coaster 117 Entertainment Engineering and the Iron Triangle 117 Appendix: Cool Tools (and More!) 120