Have you been on the hunt to find the right science program?
Are you tired of looking at programs that seem to be near copies of one another?
How would it feel to find a real engineer who is a passionate educator committed to engaging your learners in the bigger story?
Congratulations! You’ve found it!
The World of Engineering is a flexible and customizable science and engineering program designed to journey with your learner. Together, we explore real historical places and figures to see how math, science, and engineering fit into the bigger picture. We spark an authentic fire of learning that keeps burning all week long.
We use a historical lens to look more closely at physics and engineering. Your learner has a choice of three different portals to meet the real scientists and engineers responsible for changing the world.
In The World of Engineering, learners (ages 9 and up) will receive:
- Weekly collaborative storytelling sessions to imagine how discovery and innovation really happen,
- Ideas for hands-on experiments and design challenges to try at home later that week,
- Guidance for pursuing research between sessions,
- A monthly mentoring call with me, and
- Complementary access to online club meetings
The World of Engineering is a high touch program where I actively guide, mentor, and encourage your student so that they can fall in love with learning science and engineering. It’s a time full of creating, doing, investigating, and exploring. The World of Engineering gives learners ample space to choose their own adventure.
How It Works
- You select your portal into the World of Engineering.
- You set up your desired payment plan ($1500 for the Fall Semester or $500/month).
- You receive an email about how to access online club meetings.
- We schedule our initial call to discuss your student’s goals related to learning math, science, and engineering.
- I form and schedule weekly storytelling sessions that work with learners’ schedules and learning goals. Storytelling sessions will begin in September.
- We continue our email conversation with on-going feedback about how your learner is doing.
- Your child has an amazing time encountering the world of engineering!
It’s Time to Pick Your Portal…
Pisa, 1581
Galileo starts making observations that transform history. While studying, he notices that a swinging chandelier paces with his heartbeat. Overcome by curiosity, he runs home and sets up a pair of pendulums, ushering a new series of experiments that question the foundations of the universe. Learners will encounter scientific practices through hands-on reenactments of Galileo’s experiments. Like Galileo, we will be carefully documenting our results to see if our findings match predictions from physics.
This World of Engineering is ideal for students looking for a physics class.
Menlo Park, 1875
Thomas Edison has just opened his laboratory in New Jersey and wonders what new inventions are ahead of him and his team. They’ve been making progress on recording sound. Learners will discover how engineering really happens through investigating the journals left behind. While Thomas Edison has a dream of bringing sound and light to every American home, there is a lot of work to be done. Like the engineers at Menlo Park, we will be drafting our stories in invention notebooks and seeing if we can convince the patent office that we have working ideas.
This World of Engineering is ideal for students looking for a physics or engineering class.
Cape Canaveral, 1962
The Space Race is heating up! Florida is abuzz with the excitement of the Mercury program that put Americans in space. Learners will meet the scientists and engineers working to land a man on the moon and return him safely to earth, writing themselves into the story alongside known historical figures. What are the essential questions to ask before committing to the mission? Can the team meet Kennedy’s deadline of landing a man on the moon before the decade is out? Together we will be working on technical reports, mission logs, and news releases.
This World of Engineering is ideal for students looking for an engineering class.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do meetings take place?
All meetings take place via online videoconferencing so you can be anywhere in the world! I use Zoom which is easy and convenient.
How much time does the program take each week?
The World of Engineering is deliberately designed as a flexible program to meet your learners’ goals. Generally, you can expect 5 hours of live calls with me (weekly storytelling session and 1 monthly mentoring session). Your learner is also welcome to come to a weekly club meeting.
My goal with The World of Engineering is to spark curiosity where learners will spend an average of 1-10 hours per week tackling hands-on design challenges, conducting hands-on experiments, and researching story details. Tracking hours spent on projects can be useful for transcript purposes as 120 hours is a good guideline for a high school credit (180 hours if you’re aiming to call the class a lab class). Because The World of Engineering is interdisciplinary at its core, some families may consider giving history or technical writing credit.
What kinds of clubs do you offer?
Right now, I have:
- LEGO Engineering
- YES, an Engineering Club for Kids
- Energy Investigations, a Club for Young Scientists
Learners in The World of Engineering will also receive notice when I’m starting new science book club reading groups.
What can I expect from a mentoring call?
The monthly mentorship call is a scheduled videoconferencing call that goes for approximately 45 minutes, once a month. I’ll ask your learner questions about their experience in The World of Engineering, any interesting projects they are working on, and their learning goals for the next month both within The World of Engineering and beyond.
Can multiple students share a spot in The World of Engineering?
No. Each learner must reserve their own spot. If you are enrolling siblings, I strongly encourage you to use the single payment option for at least one learner.
I still have more questions.
Drop me an email at lindsey at opportunityunlocked dot com and I’m happy to help. Please include “A Year of Learning” in the subject line.