<p>So I was hoping all the college talk/visits with my neice (rising 12th grade) would trickle into my son’s head & get him motivated to explore colleges/occupations. Guess what? It certainly did, but not with S1 – S2, the rising 5th grader, announced that he is going to be an engineer. Great – but he has no idea what an engineer does. He is precise and likes math and science – guess that is where it fits together.</p>
<p>Anyway – Can anyone recommend websites, books, activites that I can direct him to?</p>
<p>I don’t want to overwhelm him, but since he is interested I figure summer would be a perfect time to put together some things to keep him from being bored.</p>
<p>I forgot about K’nex building sets!
[K’NEX</a> Storage - 1000 Piece Ultimate Value Tub](<a href=“http://www.knex.com/Multi-Model-Sets/product.php?pc=15001]K’NEX”>http://www.knex.com/Multi-Model-Sets/product.php?pc=15001)
It seemed that our son and his friends would rediscover his K’nex every year or so and then be enthralled with creating some new thing. I’m recalling a motorized structure rolling down our stairs. He used his K’nex for a physics project in high school!</p>
<p>I’m an engineer and I loved playing with legos, that is when I could get my hands on them because my parents never gave me a set (I’m a girl but my cousins had them). Lego Mindstorms is very cool because you can build a figure and make it move, combining building skills with computer/programming skills.
Keep in mind that the single most important skill for an engineer is the ability to ‘figure things out’ (except the ones working in the oil spill…) so any game or activity that enhances problem solving is great. It doesn’t have to be structured, helping to put together new furniture that comes in a box, trying to fix something that broke, or setting up a tv-cable-dvd combo is also good practice.</p>
<p>When my S was very young, even before starting school, he was addicted to shows like Beakman, Bill Nye the Science Guy, The Magic School Bus etc. He would watch them and then try to repeat the experiments they did. We always had handy a variety of books on science fair projects and ideas for experiments and we would go through those together at least weekly and pick out new experiments or projects to work on together or that he did on his own as he got older. He also had Dr Brain, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Sim City and similar computer games. We frequently visited the Children’s Museum and Science Museum in our area, he attended summer camps focusing on science that were offered through the school district, did lots of problem-solving games… and yes, they can definitely gain hands-on experiences just from helping with projects around the house!</p>
<p>We definitely have lots of Legos, circuit board sets, etc that he loves. And our house is never short on science experiments - but mainly Chemistry.</p>
<p>He’ll be doing a small science program at our local library thanks to SmithKline. He really prefers self paced things.</p>
<p>SpaceCamp is a bit too much money for us (transportation costs to get there are more than the camp!)</p>
<p>acsvcr – taking apart/putting together stuff sounds great. We have an old lap top that died that may be of interest to him just to get a look inside.</p>
<p>Geez- do kids really aspire to something in the 5th grade (other than professional football player or movie star)? Feed his interest, but don’t be surprised if he winds up being a race car driver or something. :)</p>
<p>I think that as long as this is a self-paced, interest-based thing it’s great. And it’s great that you want to make resources available to him. (It doesn’t sound like you are getting ready to stuff this down his throat.)</p>
<p>Next year he may decide he is going to be an anthropologist, which would be interesting to explore, too.</p>
<p>mafool – I hope his interests change next year! The best part of my kids is that I am constantly learning and being exposed to new things as I follow their interests.</p>
<p>(I hadn’t seen MOWC’s comment before I made mine.)</p>
<p>In third grade, our son was going to be a major league soccer player after he got his degree in chemistry. Why the chemistry, you may ask. Well, as he explained it, his soccer career would be over when he was 34 (he was very precise about that) and then he would be a chemist.</p>
<p>When my son was 11 he was already an accomplished young runner. I bought him some pajamas at GapKids for our family vacation to Colorado. I noticed that he put them away and they were not out to be packed. I asked him about them and he said, “I’m saving them for Sydney”, in reference to the Summer Olympics that were going to be there FOUR YEARS LATER in 2000! (He didn’t wind up making the Olympic track team…and the pajamas wouldn’t have fit by then anyway)</p>
<p>Mother of a mechanical engineering major who graduated a month ago. </p>
<p>Best advice came from my son’s physics teacher, when I asked at an open house, what is a good predictor of success in engineering. He said grades in math and physics is a good predictor. </p>
<p>So anything - fun, at your son’s age which would help him enjoy math would be helfpul. Chess anyone ?</p>
<p>Congratulations! Kids with an interest and passion this early have great fun finding ways to entertain and learn through many different outlets. Today there are more than ever. I would highly encourage you to check out FIRST robotics, www dot usfirst dot org</p>
<p>It is a wonderful organization that can be found in many schools and communities. You can start a team in your neighborhood if you want. At fifth grade FLL (or First Lego League) would be the place to start. The students use kits based on a LEGO NXT brick to program and build robots to perform a different task each year. In addition there is a ‘theme’ that they must address in a group presentation. This year was transportation so many of the students came up with ways they would navigate heavy traffic areas and did skits to go along with this. My son, who is a rising hs Sr. mentors an elementary FLL team where he helps with the programming, build, etc. The organization is based on ‘Gracious Professionalism’, and ‘Coopertition’. The students are judged in part on how well they treat each other during competitions.</p>
<p>The older students compete in two other divisions you can see online. My kids have been in both. The things the students do are amazing! The drive train used on one of the robots two years ago (date?) is one that is being used on the new mars rover! The students are required to reach out to their communities and make a difference. It has been an awesome program for my boys and opened a world of engineering they may never have seen until college. To stand on the floor of the GA Dome at the World Championships with thousands and thousands of other students like yourself who are thinking outside the box, working hard, and having fun, is an amazing feeling.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son in finding the right fit in a fun activity to fuel his brain. There are no lack of great opportunities!!</p>
<p>This thread takes me back. K’nex, Legos, Lego robotics, you name it, we had it. When D was in 5th grade she had the good fortune of attending a two week summer program at UVA. They worked with robotics and she got to visit the med center where they had just started doing robotic surgery, if memory serves me correctly. Now she’s just finished her first year in engineering at UVA. Never thought she’d be an engineer but I do think there’s something to early exposure that can make a difference.</p>