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Friday, June 10, 2016

Why We Learn Math: Careers In Engineering

How many times have your students asked you WHY they have to learn math?  Ever since I started covering STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineer, Arts, and Mathematics) careers in my classroom I don't ever get that question!  In fact, once I show students all the things they can do with math, we have a pretty exciting learning environment! (Doing fun STEAM activities doesn't hurt either!)

I have a career board in my classroom. We focus on a new career monthly discussing everything from how much schooling students will need to get into this field, what skills are required, and the annual average salary. We try to get a professional in this field to come in (or video chat with us!) and/or do a STEAM project focusing on this specific career. The first career we focused on was Aerospace Engineering-because it was first alphabetically on a list of STEM careers I googled!  We were able to video chat with a NASA engineer and did a paper airplane STEAM project.  By the end of the year I have so many students who proudly proclaim they are going to be an engineer when they grow up! I am also able to motivate students to get through our standards quickly so we have time for a STEAM project.  It's a win-win!

This year I am happy to be adding the book Is There An Engineer Inside You by Celeste Baine to my classroom.  Not only will it help me add to my career board, but it gives great information from personality matching and self-assessments for students to practical info and advice on community college, 4-year colleges and beyond!  



Engineering fields covered:
  • Aeronautical/Aerospace
  • Agricultural and Biological
  • Architectural
  • Automotive
  • Biomedical
  • Ceramic
  • Chemical
  • Civil
  • Computer
  • Electrical
  • Electromechanical
  • Environmental
  • Fire Protection
  • Food
  • Heating, Ventilating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning
  • Industrial
  • Manufacturing
  • Marine
  • Materials
  • Mechanical
  • Metallurgical
  • Naval
  • Nuclear
  • Ocean 
  • Optical
  • Petroleum
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Plastics
  • Robotic
  • Software
  • Structural
  • Systems
  • Telecommunications
  • Transportation 


Happy teaching :)