As a teacher for an Introduction to Engineering Design (IED from Project Lead the Way Engineering Pathway) course, some of my students tell me our engineering pathway was not their first selection and they do not have an interest in learning about engineering. Other students are excited to walk into a classroom with laser engravers and 3D printers and to learn how to use them. In both cases, I just focus on helping students design and build things. This is a collection of resources for anyone who wants to learn more about engineering and the tools they use.
A good place to start is with an introduction to the Design Process that can be applied to any project. We have a collection of resources appropriate for use in grades six through twelve.
After learning about the design process, I introduce drawing and sketching using 1,2, and 3 point perspectives. I live to use a combination of pencil and paper with Google Drawings as the primary digital drawing tool. Google Drawing is basic but all the skills apply to Google Slides and teaching students the basics of layers and transparent images improve their ability to do digital art designs. For a group on this topic, see our Drawing in 1-2-3 Point Perspective In Google Drawings.
Moving from perspective drawings we cover technical drawings with isometric images. We have a number of resources to learn isometric drawings using pencil and paper and also Google Drawings in the group Isometric Technical Drawings.
For paper technical drawings the Isometric and Multiview Templates are a great resource and this other group is focused on Multi-view Technical Drawings that include an Isometric with a Front, Top and Side view.
After this introduction to technical drawings, we move into Computer-Aided Design (CAD) using Onshape. Onshape is a professional-grade, cloud-based CAD platform that students and educators can access for FREE on any device, anywhere, anytime. Onshape recently released a set of curriculum that is ideal for an introduction to CAD that aligns closely with Project Lead the Way Engineering Pathway.
You can access and easily add this Onshape curriculum directly to your Google Drive using our Group for each of the Units provided by Onshape. If you need any more information, contact us today!
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