Children:%20Engineers%20of%20Tomorrow%20Engineering%20the%20World%20Today

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Children Engineers of Tomorrow Engineering the
World Today

• Georgina Echániz Pellicer, SM
• MIT/Media Laboratory
• georgina_at_media.mit.edu

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AN APPROACH TO
ENGINEERING EDUCATION

• Engineering
• The science of applying scientific knowledge to
  practical problems
• The art of plan, manage, and develop things by
  skillful and creative acts

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AN APPROACH TO
ENGINEERING EDUCATION
College Registration

• K-12 Failings
• Low profile mathematics and science education
• Lack of formal presence of engineering and
  technology

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PARTICIPATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND CREATIVE
LEARNING MATERIAL

• Participative learning environment
• Teachers and students express themselves
• Students and teachers learn from each other
• Students plan and design learning activities
• Teachers and students have fun while learning

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PARTICIPATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND CREATIVE
LEARNING MATERIAL

• Creative Learning Material
• Computers and Internet
• Computers programming
• Basic Electronics

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CHILDREN ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS FOR COMMON PROBLEMS

• Identify a real problem affecting the community
• Think of a solution for that real problem
• Create a virtual model using the computer
• Build a prototype using basic electronics

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Electronic Water Level Detector and Water Sampler

• Monitoring water wells at the 26 district is done
  using a probe
• Determine phreatic levels and sample
• Design an electronic device
• Build a prototype

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Electronic Water Pollution Detector

• People do not regularly clean their water tanks
• Detect turbidity in the water tank
• Engineer an electronic device
• Build a prototype

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RESULTS

• Students think that This experience has been a
  door full of opportunities, accomplishments and
  unforgettable experiences. Speaking of the
  academic side, I learned that education does not
  have to bee boring or tedious, we can learn while
  we enjoy what we do. Now I know the importance of
  teamwork, and the satisfaction of learning new
  things, it is incredible how a simple idea can
  end up in an amazing creation. The learning
  experience was very interesting because we used
  different technological tools, we also did
  research and discussed about what we learned and
  how we could apply it to help the community, then
  we went hands on and let our imagination fly to
  create something that is useful An important
  experience for me is to realize that mathematics
  is not a boring subject, as we sometimes tend to
  think, and now, I have decided to go to College
  and be an Engineer.

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FURTHER DISCUSSION

• We have reached a limited amount of teachers and
  students who have benefited from this learning
  experience
• We are still looking for a strong methodology to
  take the workshop experience back to the Schools
  as a common approach of teaching and learning
  that can improve science and technology teaching,
  and prepare children to face present and future
  technological challenges, and to understand
  science and technology as a the basis of careers
  that can contribute to shape the world in which
  we live in, such as Engineering