Discover Engineering in Central Texas

Materials:
Post-its or sticky notes; pencil, pen, or markers, large sheets of paper

Procedure:
Set the stage. Engineers and technicians solve problems. But first they need to know what the problems are. Form teams of four or five students each.

Instruct each student to think of a problem. They could be problems in life, in the community or school, even in the world. Have each student write their problem on a post-it, with one copy for each team. (Example: If there are four teams, each student needs four post-its.)

Instruct the teams to categorize the problems, then label the categories on large paper. After 15-20 minutes, display the results: ask teams to share their reasons for separating and combining problems.

Relate problems to engineering fields. (Chemical, electrical, civil, mechanical, etc.)

Notes:
Graph students' concerns.

Beyond identifying problems, have students brainstorm solutions.