Novel Engineering
What is Novel Engineering?
Inspired by kids and grounded in research, Novel Engineering is an innovative approach to integrate engineering and literacy in elementary and middle school. Students use existing classroom literature – stories, novels, and expository texts – as the basis for engineering design challenges that help them identify problems, design realistic solutions, and engage in the Engineering Design Process while reinforcing their literacy skills.
What does Novel Engineering Look Like?
- Read a Book and Identify Problems: Through discussion and attentive reading, students collect problems that characters face.
- Scope Problems and Brainstorm Solutions: Students consider the needs of the story’s character/client and the context/constraints imposed by the text as they brainstorm possible solutions.
- Design a Solution: Students work in teams to plan and build a functional prototype that addresses the character’s needs and constraints.
Novel Engineering projects are designed around books that teachers choose, generally trade books with interesting plots, rich characters and detailed descriptions of the setting. As they read the text, students are prompted to identify problems faced by characters in the text and whether these problems are ones that might be addressed with a product or process that the students could design in the classroom. Follow this link to see examples of books that some Novel Engineering classrooms have used. Click on a book to view problems identified by the students and solutions designed and built by students.
One of the great things about Novel Engineering is that there are no predetermined resources or materials that must be used. Students can do Novel Engineering with whatever is available to them, whether it’s simple found/recycled/repurposed materials, or high-end robotics and specialized materials.
Check out our full website to learn more: https://www.novelengineering.org/
