Engineering resources for primary schools

A collection of projects, resources and ideas to support engineering activities with students. Collated by DiscoverE (formerly the National Engineers Week Foundation).

This link takes you to the Engineering Habits of Mind research, published by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Teachers can use this survey before, during and after EHoM intervention to gather student views on their EHoM skills level, but don’t forget that students may judge themselves more harshly after they have become more competent, so in your second/third iteration of the survey, add in a phrase such as that suggested in red below, amended to suit your own context.

This survey was provided by Bohunt School, Hampshire. It uses a table that students shade in to show how confident they are with each EHoM.

The Academy's Learning to be an Engineer research project supported teachers to embed EHoM into their everyday teaching. Here, you'll find some of the outputs of the project: case studies, resources created by the teachers and background information about the project and its partners.

Quality AssuredCollectionCategory:Design and technologyPublisher:Practical Action

Practical Action is a development charity which uses simple technology to fight poverty. The learning resources in this collection look at how issues such as climate change and the need for renewable energy can be tackled.

Quality AssuredCollectionCategory:Design and technologyPublisher:BLOODHOUND SSC

A range of materials, designed by BLOODHOUND SSC, to support the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics at Key Stage Two. Topics include forces, motion, speed and resistance.

Quality AssuredCollectionCategory:CareersPublisher:Rolls-Royce

Produced by Rolls-Royce, this toolkit of careers resources helps students to see the connection between STEM subjects studied in school, college or university and future job opportunities.

Quality AssuredCollectionCategory:Design and technologyPublisher:Engineers Without Borders UK

This collection is produced by Engineers Without Borders UK, an international development organisation that aims to remove barriers to development through engineering. It contains resources which challenge children to discuss big issues facing the modern world and the challenges this poses for engineers trying to find solutions to these global problems.

This collection contains ten ENGINEER primary school units developed to support science learning within the context of a wide range of engineering design challenges. Each unit features a different science area and engineering field and requires only inexpensive materials in order to support science exploration and problem-solving design.

Quality AssuredCollectionCategory:SciencePublisher:Royal Institution

This collection provides three primary science resources which link to the Royal Institution Christmas Lecture ‘Sparks Will Fly’, given by Prof Danielle George in 2014. Produced by the University of Manchester's Science & Engineering Education Research and Innovation Hub.

At Rode Heath Primary school, we believe in encouraging our children to be curious about the world around them and are committed to providing an environment where they can develop real-life skills such as creative problem-solving. Following on from our hugely successful Out of This World Space project, we have developed a new whole school initiative Think Like an Engineer, which will be documented in these pages.

Engage Kids in Hands-on Engineering

Use DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL hands-on activities and videos in classrooms and afterschool programs, in libraries and museums, at events and at home, along with our newest resource DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL CLUBS that connect 10- to 13-year-olds in out-of-school programs around the world.

Engineering is Elementary® (EiE®) is a project of the National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL®) at the Museum of Science, Boston. We address America’s pressing need for effective STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education through three platforms:

Curriculum development and dissemination
Professional development (PD) for teachers and teacher educators
Educational research and evaluation

TeachEngineering is a searchable, web-based digital library collection populated with standards-based engineering curricula for use by K-12 teachers and engineering faculty to make applied science and math come alive through engineering design in K-12 settings.

Fixperts works with schools, universities and companies to encourage people to be resourceful. Thousands of Fixperts all around the world have used and grown their skills to improve the daily lives of the people they meet.

What if engineers didn’t exist? We’ve made this film to show you all the different ways engineers make our world go round. From inventions that move us, to creations that keep us safe, and just thinking up better ways to protect our planet. We believe that we all start out as engineers. Everyone loves building, making, dreaming. And if you never want to stop, you’re the sort of young person who can really make a difference to the world. So talk to your teacher, parents or an engineer to find out more!