Whatchamacallit Workshop and Engineering!

    We are getting ready to start our Engineering unit tomorrow, and I'm excited!  I love teaching the Engineering Design Process, simple machines, and concepts like the assembly line.  We use a curriculum called Engineering is Elementary, and I really love it.  It has a great book called, "Aisha Makes Work Easier" that is a wonderful complement to the unit.  Beyond that, I am even more excited about teaching it this year, because I just spent all weekend creating fun supplemental resources!  Yay!

     I am most excited about our Whatchamacallit Workshop.  I have done this in the past, but it hasn't been nearly as pretty on paper!  Haha!  It's amazing what kids can make with household items that usually end up in the trash.  It's also amazing that kids can include simple machines in their designs using these objects... like pulleys, inclined planes, and levers!  If they can apply it, they understand it!  I'm including a few pictures of the unit, if you're interested... and I'm also going to share a few projects from a few years ago!

A piggy bank! (It looks like the wild pigs I saw in Mexico with that snout!)

A bird feeder with an inclined plane!

A ship with a pulley and "Captain Charlotte" who was made out of a clothespin.  Love his moustache!