Teaching Boys | Page 22

“… through trial and error , they build their frustration tolerance and their acceptance of failure as a part of the engineering process .”
The Nerdy Derby is a fitting culmination to the Lower School engineering program with its natural melding of both science and engineering , something that becomes more innate once students grasp the basics of thinking like an engineer .

“… through trial and error , they build their frustration tolerance and their acceptance of failure as a part of the engineering process .”

sequences of code . This type of programming opens the door to many new possibilities , such as looping commands and using conditional code . Boys can create much more complex programs , and they are able to save those programs to continuously work on them over multiple days . They learn to look closely at a program to “ debug ,” a more specific form of trial and error . Once second graders can see and revisit their code , they can apply the same steps of the engineering cycle to their programming challenges .
The next step is one out of the physical world entirely with Scratch , a similarly block-based coding software that allows students to program computer games and animations . Without the limitations of a physical robot , the boys ’ coding possibilities expand while building upon learned code structures . Second and third graders use Scratch in science class , and they continue to use the platform when they graduate to Upper School . Once they have mastered the basics of Scratch , it also becomes a tool in their learning in other areas of science . For example , third graders use Scratch to create their own versions of the observable universe during their study of Space .
Throughout the Lower School curriculum , the primary goal around engineering is to develop a way of thinking as opposed to mastery of any one process or medium . Upon learning key engineering skills , they are consistently practiced within different scientific areas of study . We also highlight the work of engineers in a wide variety of fields , using their stories to expand the boys ’ understanding of engineering . In this way , students are able to see how integrated science and engineering truly are . •
Allie Laird is a Lower School Science Teacher at Saint David ’ s School .
22 • Saint David ’ s Magazine