• Question: what experiments should i do at home to get me into engineering?

    Asked by kim007 to Dan, Jennifer, Luke, Martin, sakshisharda on 12 Mar 2018.
    • Photo: Sakshi Sharda

      Sakshi Sharda answered on 12 Mar 2018:

      You’re very ambitious kim101:) To begin with you start to be curious about how things around you work, for example, how does the microwave work or how does the TV screen work? All the things we’re surrounded by in our daily life are made by great engineers and this can help you with getting more inspired to be a good engineer.

    • Photo: Jennifer Paxton

      Jennifer Paxton answered on 12 Mar 2018:

      Excellent question! I’m glad to see you are a budding engineer! 🙂 Engineers tend to be interested in ‘how things work’ and there are so many interesting things you could do at home. Like Sakshi says, you could try to find out how things in your home work like the TV or kettle. When i was younger, my dad used to help me take old things apart and put them back together again so I could see inside! (don’t do this without permission though….i don’t think you’d be very popular if you started taking lots of things apart, haha!!) I also used to get little kits bought for me that teaches you how to make a circuit to make a lightbulb switch on, or make a motor turn. Those were good starting points!
      i really loved things like that when i was younger. Although i work on the human body now, i still see myself as an engineer as i really see the body as an incredible machine with lots of different parts and wanted to find out how it all worked….and now I try to build new bits!

    • Photo: Luke Williams

      Luke Williams answered on 13 Mar 2018:

      I studied engineering at university, and hadn’t really thought about it until that point. Certainly had not at primary school! So first, well done you for thinking about such things. 2018 is also the year of engineering, so good timing too!

      I have had a quick look for something for you, here are some things you may want to take a look at. Some of these are aimed at school rather than home, so may need specific things (also ask your teacher if you can do one in school sometime?) – I suggest getting an adult to look at these links as they can be pretty complicated. PLEASE PLEASE check with an adult before trying any experiment though!! Always be safe!

      https://gb.education.com/science-fair/engineering/
      https://www.raeng.org.uk/education/schools/teaching-and-learning-resources/curriculum-resources
      http://www.whynotchemeng.com/teachers/key-stage-2-and-3-resources.aspx

      Also: http://www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk/intheirownwords/

      Happy engineering!

    • Photo: Martin Lindley

      Martin Lindley answered on 14 Mar 2018:

      the most simple and east to do would be lego building …or playing jenga …or twister….all things you can do easily…..but working out how to do them well needs an engineer 🙂

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