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I've done an interactive "do you know how many types of engineers there are?" for this age group that's worked really well. Timeframe: 5-15 minutes "Can anyo

I've done an interactive "do you know how many types of engineers there are?" for this age group that's worked really well. Timeframe: 5-15 minutes "Can anyone name a type of engineer?" and for each shoutout, talk a little about what each does. The guessing keeps everyone's attention. Types: software/computer, electrical, mechanical, chemical, environmental, civil, nuclear, aeronautical, etc. Bonus: bring 2-3 props (your drones would be GREAT) that you can hold up for the relevant flavor. For drones, I like to ask: "how do you think the drone moves forward?" [over power the rear two, underpower the front] Same Q for other directions. "how do you think it rotates?" "why don't all props spin in the same direction?" Bring one of these to fly in the room: https://www.amazon.com/Cheerson-CX-10-Diameter-2-4GHz-Quadcopter/dp/B00M6HP1HM https://www.amazon.com/Cheerson-CX-10-Diameter-2-4GHz-Quadco... Talk about how there's actually a computer on board. If you have access to a TV, bring a short ~2min drone POV video to show. Tell bad jokes ("Civil engineers are very nice to each other", etc.) Google online for some. It's all about energy and making it interactive.

penagwin 7y ago
Oh gosh I just realized I don't have the self control to teach children. Context: I'm a software engineer. All my explanations would be the "realistic" but kinda sarcastic answers. Computer Engineer - Copy's pastes code until it works. Rocket Scientists - Spend 50% of the time designing rockets, and 50% of their time hoping the rocket doesn't explode. Locomotive Engineer - Whoops this isn't a real engineer! /s /s
- morpheuskafka 7y ago
  Hey, at least locomotive engineers never copy and paste from StackOverflow!
  - elijahwright 7y ago
    They overflow a different kind of stacks.
  - penagwin 7y ago
    My friend that's a locomotive engineer in a really pretty part of BC once told me this pickup line "Hey baby, I get to drive a multi-million dollar company vehicle, with a full window view of gorgeous mountain landscapes, with flexible hours!" (by flexible hours I mean he has no sleep schedule and may have to work 12+ hour shifts at any time of the day, with the possibility of a 8 hour break and another 12 hour shift)
- pbhjpbhj 7y ago
  So what do you call an engineer that designs/optimises/etc. locomotives?
  - SapporoChris 7y ago
    I am not positive, but I think Mechanical Engineer. "Mechanical engineering is the discipline that applies engineering, physics, engineering mathematics, and materials science principles to design, analyze, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering disciplines. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_engineering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_engineering My father was one, but designed gas compressors for oil & gas industry.
  - penagwin 7y ago
    I'd go with SapporoChris's answer with Mechanical Engineer. Locomotive Engineer's basically are the one in charge of operating the locomotive. What most people think of as a "Conductor" is actually a lower level job and is mostly paper work from what I hear. Source: Close friend is a Locomotive Engineer in Canada.
    - cosmodisk 7y ago
      We call them train drivers in the UK. I think it's a bit too muchbto call them engineers...
  - woolybully 7y ago
    Well, another term for a locomotive is an engine, a train engine. So a person who works on those is an engine-eer.
- Uptrenda 7y ago
  Well, you made me laugh. Have a free +1
- skykooler 7y ago
  Rocket science is easy! Rocket engineering on the other hand...
  - penagwin 7y ago
    Is the difference larger (and more expensive) explosions? If so sign me up! :D
raisedbyninjas 7y ago
For each engineering discipline highlight the relevant part of a drone and how they're responsible. aeronatical: props and flight control mechanical: chassis chemical: batteries civil: constructing buildings that don't fall over when a drone crashes into them? nuclear: nope, refer to civil engineering
- cyrix100 7y ago
  There are some interesting applications for drones in the nuclear industry. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/podcasts/monitoring-radiation-drones https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/podcasts/monitori...
  - delinka 7y ago
    but no one in the nuclear engineering industry is involved in building any part of a drone
    - richardwhiuk 7y ago
      Nuclear powered drones? Maybe not yet....
    - cyrix100 7y ago
      Well except for the one posted since it carries radiation detection equipment. Also it is possible there might be some radiation hardening performed on the electronics to resist ionizing radiation failures.
    - jacobush 7y ago
      Nowadays... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
- larrydag 7y ago
  software: the coding for the hardware controls, autopilot or camera
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dTal 7y ago
>For drones, I like to ask: "how do you think the drone moves forward?" [over power the rear two, underpower the front] Careful - this explanation isn't just a simplification - it's outright wrong. Applying differential power to the front and rear rotors is how you initiate a pitch moment. You must reverse the pitch moment when the drone is at the desired attitude. This attitude may cause the drone to accelerate in a given direction. When the drone has reached the desired speed the attitude change must also be undone (but not completely, due to drag) to kill the acceleration. So to bring a drone from a hover to a steady forward velocity requires four applications of differential power - two one way, and two the other way. It's not even true that the rear ones expend more total power over the course of the maneuver - it's symmetrical. It's a neat example of Newton's First law, and also a good opportunity to explore a little about 0-order, 1-order, 2-order motion (you might explore what kicking your foot does when 1) walking 2) riding a skateboard, 3) driving a car). But if you think it's too complicated, better to avoid it entirely than give the wrong idea. (A related question you can ask - when an airplane is in a steady climb, which is greater - the lift on the wings, or the weight of the plane? Answer: they are the same! Otherwise the aircraft would be accelerating up or down.)
- payne92 7y ago
  Correct. BUT, I've found this level of detail is often too much for a 5 to 6th grade level audience. So I usually start with "what if the back rotors go a little faster?": it tips it forward, beginning a series of operations leading forward motion (like turning the wheel of a car away from center -- what happens if you keep it turned?) I've also found that words matter: "attitude", "differential", "pitch", "velocity", "acceleration", etc. -- may be hard to access, and simpler terms like "faster", "slower", "speed", "tipped" are usually more broadly understood.
  - sriku 7y ago
    Spot on! The level of explanation and the intent behind the explanation hugely matter. An explanation that is correct but becomes inaccessible can become a demotivator for kids (not for all kids). An explanation that makes things too mundane can cause a consequent lack of curiosity. A recent such explanation episode got me thinking more about this - I'd recently got a pair of noise cancelling headphones and wanted to demo it to my kids. In an inspired (or dumb) moment, I introduced it to them like this - "you know headphones play music right, this one plays silence." I'd like to think I caught a whif of both understanding and "what the .." in their expressions :D
bigiain 7y ago
Speaking of > Tell bad jokes ... > I've done an interactive "do you know how many types of engineers there are?" Two. Civil Engineers and Mechanical Engineers. Mechanical Engineers build weapons. Civil Engineers build targets.

penagwin 7y ago

Oh gosh I just realized I don't have the self control to teach children. Context: I'm a software engineer. All my explanations would be the "realistic" but kinda sarcastic answers. Computer Engineer - Copy's pastes code until it works. Rocket Scientists - Spend 50% of the time designing rockets, and 50% of their time hoping the rocket doesn't explode. Locomotive Engineer - Whoops this isn't a real engineer! /s /s

morpheuskafka 7y ago
Hey, at least locomotive engineers never copy and paste from StackOverflow!
- elijahwright 7y ago
  They overflow a different kind of stacks.
- penagwin 7y ago
  My friend that's a locomotive engineer in a really pretty part of BC once told me this pickup line "Hey baby, I get to drive a multi-million dollar company vehicle, with a full window view of gorgeous mountain landscapes, with flexible hours!" (by flexible hours I mean he has no sleep schedule and may have to work 12+ hour shifts at any time of the day, with the possibility of a 8 hour break and another 12 hour shift)
pbhjpbhj 7y ago
So what do you call an engineer that designs/optimises/etc. locomotives?
- SapporoChris 7y ago
  I am not positive, but I think Mechanical Engineer. "Mechanical engineering is the discipline that applies engineering, physics, engineering mathematics, and materials science principles to design, analyze, manufacture, and maintain mechanical systems. It is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering disciplines. " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_engineering https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_engineering My father was one, but designed gas compressors for oil & gas industry.
- penagwin 7y ago
  I'd go with SapporoChris's answer with Mechanical Engineer. Locomotive Engineer's basically are the one in charge of operating the locomotive. What most people think of as a "Conductor" is actually a lower level job and is mostly paper work from what I hear. Source: Close friend is a Locomotive Engineer in Canada.
  - cosmodisk 7y ago
    We call them train drivers in the UK. I think it's a bit too muchbto call them engineers...
- woolybully 7y ago
  Well, another term for a locomotive is an engine, a train engine. So a person who works on those is an engine-eer.
Uptrenda 7y ago
Well, you made me laugh. Have a free +1
skykooler 7y ago
Rocket science is easy! Rocket engineering on the other hand...
- penagwin 7y ago
  Is the difference larger (and more expensive) explosions? If so sign me up! :D

raisedbyninjas 7y ago

For each engineering discipline highlight the relevant part of a drone and how they're responsible. aeronatical: props and flight control mechanical: chassis chemical: batteries civil: constructing buildings that don't fall over when a drone crashes into them? nuclear: nope, refer to civil engineering

cyrix100 7y ago
There are some interesting applications for drones in the nuclear industry. https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/podcasts/monitoring-radiation-drones https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/multimedia/podcasts/monitori...
- delinka 7y ago
  but no one in the nuclear engineering industry is involved in building any part of a drone
  - richardwhiuk 7y ago
    Nuclear powered drones? Maybe not yet....
  - cyrix100 7y ago
    Well except for the one posted since it carries radiation detection equipment. Also it is possible there might be some radiation hardening performed on the electronics to resist ionizing radiation failures.
  - jacobush 7y ago
    Nowadays... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
larrydag 7y ago
software: the coding for the hardware controls, autopilot or camera

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

dTal 7y ago

>For drones, I like to ask: "how do you think the drone moves forward?" [over power the rear two, underpower the front] Careful - this explanation isn't just a simplification - it's outright wrong. Applying differential power to the front and rear rotors is how you initiate a pitch moment. You must reverse the pitch moment when the drone is at the desired attitude. This attitude may cause the drone to accelerate in a given direction. When the drone has reached the desired speed the attitude change must also be undone (but not completely, due to drag) to kill the acceleration. So to bring a drone from a hover to a steady forward velocity requires four applications of differential power - two one way, and two the other way. It's not even true that the rear ones expend more total power over the course of the maneuver - it's symmetrical. It's a neat example of Newton's First law, and also a good opportunity to explore a little about 0-order, 1-order, 2-order motion (you might explore what kicking your foot does when 1) walking 2) riding a skateboard, 3) driving a car). But if you think it's too complicated, better to avoid it entirely than give the wrong idea. (A related question you can ask - when an airplane is in a steady climb, which is greater - the lift on the wings, or the weight of the plane? Answer: they are the same! Otherwise the aircraft would be accelerating up or down.)

payne92 7y ago
Correct. BUT, I've found this level of detail is often too much for a 5 to 6th grade level audience. So I usually start with "what if the back rotors go a little faster?": it tips it forward, beginning a series of operations leading forward motion (like turning the wheel of a car away from center -- what happens if you keep it turned?) I've also found that words matter: "attitude", "differential", "pitch", "velocity", "acceleration", etc. -- may be hard to access, and simpler terms like "faster", "slower", "speed", "tipped" are usually more broadly understood.
- sriku 7y ago
  Spot on! The level of explanation and the intent behind the explanation hugely matter. An explanation that is correct but becomes inaccessible can become a demotivator for kids (not for all kids). An explanation that makes things too mundane can cause a consequent lack of curiosity. A recent such explanation episode got me thinking more about this - I'd recently got a pair of noise cancelling headphones and wanted to demo it to my kids. In an inspired (or dumb) moment, I introduced it to them like this - "you know headphones play music right, this one plays silence." I'd like to think I caught a whif of both understanding and "what the .." in their expressions :D

bigiain 7y ago

Speaking of > Tell bad jokes ... > I've done an interactive "do you know how many types of engineers there are?" Two. Civil Engineers and Mechanical Engineers. Mechanical Engineers build weapons. Civil Engineers build targets.