Elementary students get hands-on engineering experience

Nearly 90 Schuylerville Elementary School students are exploring the field of engineering. On Saturday, March 23, students in grades K-5 took part in the fourth annual Educating Young Engineers (EYE) program held at the school. The program featured several fun activities to engage students in engineering. This year’s theme was ‘Engineering Athletics 2.0’.

A favorite activity was Sailboat Racing, where kids had to select materials and build a sailboat that would catch the wind from a fan, to speedily, or not so speedily sail the length of a rain gutter.

Another favorite was Garbage Guards, where students designed shin guards out of recycled materials. They tested their designs on a wooden kicker contraption, and checked to see if the ‘play-doh shin’ was dented or not.

Students had to ‘purchase’ the materials with wooden coins, forcing them to be thoughtful in their decision making. All activities were open-ended, meaning there was no single solution, but rather allowed the kids to be creative in their thinking. The activities taught them to test, alter, and repeat, to make their designs better for each test run.

Rounding out the day was Lego Golf, where students designed a mini golf course to roll a marble through; Light up Lanyards in which students learned about electric current to light up an LED they could wear; and Athletics Teamwork in which teams learned to work together to achieve a series of challenging activities, like untangling a human knot, and flipping a tarp upside down without stepping off the tarp.

Among the 32 parent and student volunteers who helped during the day, 13 were Schuylerville High School students and three were Schuylerville Middle School students.

“We are happy to have established a great relationship with our High School students. They really enjoyed interacting with the elementary kids at this event,” commented Tara McCaughey, parent chairperson for EYE at Schuylerville. “We’re also grateful for the many parent volunteers who put the time in to make this day happen. This day is always a highlight for the kids who come to EYE.”

About Educating Young Engineers
The EYE program was created six years ago by Saratoga High School students as a way to get kids excited about engineering. These high school students create all of the activities, and provide support for the school running the program. Learn more by clicking here.