Engineering is Elementary®, 2nd Edition

Engineering is Elementary®, 2nd Edition Units

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Grades 1–5

Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier

Students design a system that uses simple machines to make work easier. 

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Grades 1–5

A Work in Process: Improving a Play Dough Process

Students explore solids, liquids, and gases and develop a process for producing play dough.  

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Grades 1–5

A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil Spill 

Students design a process to clean up a model oil spill that threatens an ecosystem. 

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Grades 1–5

A Stick in the Mud: Evaluating a Landscape 

Students explore landforms and erosion and propose the best place for a model suspension bridge.  

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Grades 1–5

Catching the Wind: Designing Windmills 

Students explore the forces of wind and weather and design blades for a windmill that can lift weights. 

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Grades 1–5

Now You’re Cooking: Designing Solar Ovens 

Students learn about thermal energy transfer, collect data about insulation, and then design solar ovens. 

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Grades 1–5

Thinking Inside the Box: Designing Plant Packages 

Students design a package to keep a plant healthy and whole during shipping. 

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Grades 1–5

Just Passing Through: Designing Model Membranes 

Students design model membranes that provide water slowly over time.  

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Grades 1–5

To Get to the Other Side: Designing Bridges 

Students collect data about three bridge structures and design their own bridges. 

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Grades 1–5

A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes 

Students test the effects of different variables on parachute performance and design a parachute. 

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Grades 1–5

The Attraction is Obvious: Designing Maglev Systems  

Students investigate magnets and then design magnetic levitation transportation systems. 

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Grades 1–5

Lighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems 

Students use mirrors to direct light so it lights up the inside of a model Egyptian tomb. 

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Grades 1–5

The Best of Bugs: Designing Hand Pollinators 

Students explore plants and insect pollinators and design their own hand pollinators. 

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Grades 1–5

Water, Water Everywhere: Designing Water Filters 

Students explore sources of water pollution and explore materials to design water filters. 

Retired Units

Engineering is Elementary®, 2nd Edition Units

Retired Units are units for which the Materials Kit has been discontinued and is unavailable for purchase. Teacher Guides and media resources will continue to be digitally accessible free of charge.

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Grades 1–5

An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits 

Students explore energy, electricity, and circuits, and then design their own electrical alarm circuits. 

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Grades 1–5

No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces 

Students explore biomedical engineering and design a temporary brace to support an injured knee.

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Grades 1–5

Solid as a Rock: Replicating an Artifact 

Students explore rocks and use methods that archaeologists use to design replicas of petroglyphs. 

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Grades 1–5

Sounds Like Fun: Seeing Animal Sounds

Students design a system to represent and communicate sounds without recording them. 

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Grades 1–5

Taking the Plunge: Designing Submersibles 

Students use math to predict which objects will sink or float and use what they learned to design submersibles. 

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Grades 1–5

A Sticky Situation: Designing Walls 

Students investigate the properties of earth materials and use those materials to design and build walls. 

Standards Alignment

See how EiE connects to state and national standards.

We’ve developed each EiE Engineering unit with careful attention to educational standards in both science and technology/engineering. Computer Science units align with state and national computer science standards.

Engineering is Elementary Resources

EiE has worked closely with teachers to develop a suite of resources for each unit. Student resources and family letters are provided in both English and Spanish. 

Resource Description
Teacher Guide Contains five lessons* with a common structure: 

  • Introduction 
  • Activity 
  • Reflection 

*Some lessons span multiple sessions.
Storybook Sets the context for the challenge through a storybook character who is solving a similar engineering challenge. 
Print Materials Differentiated student handouts and printable classroom resources for implementing the unit 
Teaching Supports Resources to meet the needs of diverse learners: Discussion Supports, English Learner Strategies, Alternative Lesson Progressions
Student Supports Illustrated resources to support student understanding: Vocabulary Cards, Storybook Character Cards, Materials Reference Sheets, Engineering Design Process Posters
Assessment Tools  Lesson rubrics and unit assessments help to evaluate students’ growth as engineers.  
Family Letter   Introduces the unit to families and invites participation of family and community members. 
Classroom Videos   Show each lesson being implemented in classrooms. 
How-To Videos  Show how to prepare materials. 
Materials Kit Supplies the physical materials needed to teach each lesson.