Thinking Like an Engineer--Review

This month my son has been blessed to be able to try a new course from the Innovators Tribe. He has enjoyed Thinking Like an Engineer. This online, interactive video curriculum is filled with instruction and creative challenges. Thinking Like an Architect is another course offered by the same company. Be sure to read the reviews written by other bloggers for more info about the architect course.

My son is definitely a hands on learner. He has also been interested in engineering for several years, especially if the engineering information includes working on the computer. He has always enjoyed STEM type learning. This curriculum has been very enjoyable for him and it has encouraged him to think outside the box.

The first activity that he had to complete was to build a five foot tower out of paper. He was given two sheets of printer paper and 12 inches of tape to complete this challenge. It was a bit trickier than he anticipated and didn't quite get his tower to five feet.

The second challenge was to build some sort of structure that would hold hundreds of pounds of heavy books one inch off the floor. For this challenge he could use four sheets of paper and two feet of masking tape. This one was really fun for both of us. We worked together and cut the paper into one inch strips. Then we rolled each strip into several tubes and taped them closed. We stood the little tubes on the ground in groups and then slowly and carefully piled on nearly every book in our bookshelves! The stack ended up being almost as tall as my 12 year old. He later weighed all of the books and it was quite an impressive amount of weight that those little paper tubes held! I did take photos of the entire thing, but sadly they were accidentally deleted them before I was able to upload them to my post.

My son is currently at the part of the curriculum where he is learning about the 3D design tools on the computer. He has downloaded a neat graphic design software and the teacher is showing him the basics of how to use that software.

The lessons on this program are short and engaging. Some lessons will take longer than others, especially if it is a challenge lesson. I don't mind breaking the longer sessions down into smaller sessions so he doesn't get overwhelmed. But typically when he begins a project, he likes to finish it at one time. He was most excited about learning how to use the software because there are some graphic design things he wants to work on for his own YouTube channel.

I appreciate that the supplies needed for the lessons and challenges are basic things that we already have. One of the challenges involved building a water filter. It did involve more than just basic things we already have. We went ahead and watched the video for how to do this, but we didn't build the water filter. It looks very cool, and we will most likely visit this project when we have collected all of the supplies.

These are the basic lessons for this course:

• Introduction to Engineering (4 lessons, 3 challenges)
• Introduction to 3D Design Tools (5 lessons, 2 challenges, 1 advanced option)
• Engineering Roller Coasters (5 lessons, 2 challenges)
• Engineering Bridges (11 lessons, 2 challenges)
• Nano Engineering (3 lessons)
• Thinking Like an Engineer Conclusion (bonus mini-course)

The content in this course is excellent; I can't wait to see where it takes my son!

Curious what other reviewers had to say about this product? Head on over to the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read all the reviews.

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