butterfly113 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 DS10 loves anything hands on. Building with legos, knex, digging in dirt... He will sit for hours and read about big machines, mega builders, etc. He is very interested in engineering, how things work, why and so forth. Are there any good books I could pick up for him to give him a better taste of the field of engineering, the many various types and aspects of engineering? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 You could try The Art of Construction. It even has activities to try. I used it to teach a co-op class for 4th-6th graders a long time ago. http://www.amazon.com/Art-Construction-Principles-Beginning-Architects/dp/1556520808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271773288&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Aaaaarrrgh. I just lost a post I'd written for you with a bunch of links. *sigh* I'll try this again... I don't know of any books in particular, but there is much to be found on the internet and in magazines. And if you know any engineers, even if only casually, start chatting with them and see if their work place can be visited. Most engineers started out as tinkerers, the kind who took things apart to see how they work, and they love finding like-minded souls. Here, in no particular order, are things my science/engineer/legomaniac teen has enjoyed through the years. Muse magazine (from the publishers of Cricket) Scientific American magazine Discover magazine Brick Journal The creators of BrickJournal magazine are the nicest Lego geeks you will ever meet. The articles are fascinating -- it isn't just big kids who never outgrew Legos, it covers the Master Builders at LegoLand, the people who build enormous Lego structures for tv shows and all kinds of Lego competitions. The site has lots of cool links, and the journal itself will keep your ds occupied for hours and hours and hours. Make magazine is relatively new to me, and was brought to my attention by an engineer friend. There are projects and articles galore. I assume y'all are fans of Mythbusters? They have a good website on Discovery.com. I found this article to be really interesting: The Many Jobs of a MythBuster FIRST Lego League is a great place for a 10 year old to start learning about robotics and engineering. The FIRST organization, founded by Dean Kamen who the invented the Segue, sponsors different robotics competitions for different ages. You can learn more at their site, and if there are any of the high school competitions or demonstrations in your area be sure to go. Each team is mentored by an engineer, and the competitions are a place for geeky kids to really have fun. I didn't find a web site just now, but I know they exist -- Future Scientists and Engineers of America has after school programs. Several years ago a homeschool mom organized one of these. You have to buy kits, but it might be worth investigating. Are you familiar with all of David Macaulay's books? The Way Things Work has been around for a while. His PBS series, Building Big, was an excellent introduction to the engineering of big structures. NASA has tons of information if you are patient in searching all their various sites. JPL in Southern California has an open house every year that is supposed to be amazing -- keep your eyes open for opportunities like that or any events held by the engineering departments at nearby universities. That should get you started! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyco Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Thank you for that information! Those suggestions are very helpful! We're going to subscribe to Muse today and keep the other ideas on hand for gifts. My dh was very impressed that Muse has a quote from Martin Gardner on the homepage; dh has photocopies of all of Gardner's articles for Scientific American. It's a sign. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Handmaiden Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) You could try The Art of Construction. It even has activities to try. I used it to teach a co-op class for 4th-6th graders a long time ago. http://www.amazon.com/Art-Construction-Principles-Beginning-Architects/dp/1556520808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271773288&sr=8-1 My son's engineering and science camp requires the book above along with The Cartoon Guide to Physics by Gonick. Make magazine is relatively new to me, and was brought to my attention by an engineer friend. There are projects and articles galore. Yes! My engineer dh and engineer wanna-be ds both fight over who gets to read the newest issue of Make first. :) If you can swing the cost of the Lego NXT, it's a good tool to learn mechanical & robotics engineering along with programming. You can find many NXT books with project ideas, enough to keep an inquisitive mind busy for a long time! If you can't swing the NXT, my dh likes the Technic line of Lego; he says it mirrors real life applications most closely out of all the Lego lines with axles, gears, shock absorbers, pegs, differentials, pneumatics, etc. Edited April 20, 2010 by Handmaiden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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