Register your STEPS Engineers Week 2023 activity with us by Friday, March 10th to be in with a chance to win a LEGO® Education BricQ Motion Set for your school, worth €164.99. T&Cs apply.
STEPS Engineers Week, run by the Engineers Ireland STEPS programme, gives children the opportunity to discover engineering, facilitated by their teachers, parents and local community. STEPS Engineers Week 2023 will take place from Saturday, 4 - Friday, 10 March 2023.
During STEPS Engineers Week-themed lessons are taught in primary and secondary school classrooms across the country to help children discover the exciting world of engineering in Ireland. Teachers and schools can access free engineering resources provided by the STEPS team, or create their own engineering themed activities.
STEPS is here to support you in planning your primary school Engineers Week activity. This page contains all the information that you need to get involved with STEPS Engineers Week 2023.
Help empower teachers to communicate effectively about engineering.
Providing teachers with engineering-themed activities.
Learn about engineering and how it interlinks with the primary school curriculum in the video below. The video also gives suggestions for introducing and communicating about engineering with your students.
STEPS has created free primary level engineering activities available for teachers to download and carry out in classrooms.
Click on the title of each resource to drop down the accordion below and learn more about the resource you would like to access.
This resource consists of PowerPoint quizzes exploring engineering, with a short introductory film, for three different age groups.
Do you have what it takes to get top marks in the STEPS Engineers Quiz? As Creatives has created family-friendly quizzes to explore engineering at home and challenge each other to see who the ultimate engineer is!
This video contains an Engineering Quiz Introduction for you to play for the class.
Download Primary Quiz - Suitable for age 8-12
Download Teacher Instructions
This bumper pack contains 15 hands on activities for you to get involved this STEPS Engineers Week. You can carry out one or as many activities you like! Print and copy the activity page of your choice.
Contents:
Explore engineering in these five engineering themed colouring sheets.
The Engineers Ireland STEPS team have paired up with Jasmine Florentine, author & project illustrator of Hex Allen and the Clanksmiths, to share Hex Allen's Guide to Defeating Monsters! Join Hex and her friends as they use science and engineering to get out of a bunch of scrapes, and make some fantastic gadgets in this special and exciting activity.
Jasmine has created a video demonstration especially for STEPS Engineers Week! Watch now on the Engineers Ireland YouTube Channel.
The STEPS team has selected a list of films and documentaries that will get students excited about engineering and STEM. Used as part of a lesson, movies can spark discussion and reinforce topics.
Teacher preparation before the screening:
On the day of the screening:
The STEPS team has selected a list of books about engineering and STEM. Why not complete a reading from one of these engineering themed books?
Hello! And welcome to your Engineering Challenge Passport. We are about to embark on a Round-the-world engineering adventure like no other.
On this trip you will face many challenges. For each one you will need to use your inner-engineer to look at the problem facing you and come up with a way to solve it.
The Engineers Ireland STEPS team has created the Wind Energy Challenge Pack, designed for students to explore sustainability in engineering. Primary school students take on the Pinwheel Challenge.
The pack contains an engineering discussion guide and detailed activity instructions. Available free to download, the activities can be carried out with materials found in the classroom or home.
Take the STEPS Engineers Week Primary School Quiz! Either call out the questions, or display the PowerPoint on Screen.
Use the Quiz Presentation for the Quiz, and the Answers Presentations to score the quiz!
Take the Engineering Challenge! Match the engineering descriptions with the images, and learn about different types of engineering. Colour in the matching sheet.
Take the Sustainable Engineering Challenge and match the ways engineers are helping achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The Engineers Ireland STEPS Ambassadors inspire students to explore the limitless opportunities a career in engineering can offer. Engineering is everywhere in our lives, and the diverse hobbies and interests of the STEPS Ambassadors are a perfect way to explore how engineering is important in all parts of our lives.
Chuir STEPS liosta de ghníomhaíochtaí le chéile do spriocluchtanna i scoileanna agus seans ann gur mhaith leat iad a chur chun feidhme. Is féidir iad a fháil anseo.
STEPS has created a list of engineering hands on activities that are available in Irish. Please visit the Seachtain na nInnealtóirí section of our website for more information.
Children with autism are often visual learners, and this resource was created with this in mind. It’s a bright and engaging resource, focusing on repetition of key words associated with engineering, matching games, and activities based on developing vocabulary.
The Engineering in our Lives short animated video shows you how engineering is all around us! Watch this short video, and complete the accompanying workbook so see how engineering is our lives.
Watch the video now.
The STEPS team have created resources for children to discover the engineering behind some of Ireland’s heritage sites. Each location has a challenge pack full of several engineering themed activities based, through which children can discover Ireland’s engineering and heritage history.
Each activity pack contains:
The STEPS Towards Engineering pack consists of a series of hands-on engineering challenges for ages 8 to 12 years. It has everything you need to get started and introduce engineering to young people. There is an introduction to engineering session, a planning session, and four quick hands-on engineering challenges here for you to do with your group.
STEPS Engineers Week has primary school engineering shows that teachers can screen for students in classrooms. Teachers can register for free for our pre-recorded fun & educational shows. Those registered will receive a link to view the show the week before STEPS Engineers Week and can stream it in your classroom between Monday, 6 - Friday 10 March 2023. The shows can be viewed on any device that normally streams videos.
Read our show descriptions below.
Celebrity scientist Mark the Science Guy explores sports and engineering.
Come and join Scientific Sue for fun at STEPS Engineers Week! Watch Scientific Sue's pre-recorded engineering show from the comfort of your home on any device that normally streams videos.
Celebrity scientist Mark the Science Guy and superstar co-host Ali Knight take you on a bridge building adventure at Explorium, investigating the fascinating shapes that engineers use to build amazing structures. Join in with challenges, tests & activities as Mark and Ali push their structures to the limit with some daredevil stunts. Interactive, entertaining and highly energetic!
Register for engineering shows now.
You will be sent the link in the days before STEPS Engineers Week.
Watch the pre-recorded engineering show in your classroom at a time that suits you.
The shows can be viewed on any device that normally streams videos.
Click on the title of each resource to drop down the accordion and learn more about the resource.
Access this resource: Human Life, Properties and Characteristics of Materials
Explore and investigate how people move; Understand how materials may be used in construction; Explore the effect of friction on movement through experimenting with toys and objects on various surfaces.
Click the link below for more information.
https://www.sfi.ie/site-files/primary-science/media/pdfs/col/engineers-week-human-life-properties-and-characteristics-of-materials.pdf
Dream, Invent, Create is publication to introduce engineering to kids in primary schools. It will help them make a connection between the everyday world and engineering — and excite them about the possibilities. You can purchase digital editions to share with students remotely, either purchasing a single licence or in batches or 10, 20 or 30. Shop now.
Available to access now for free is A Guide for Teachers: Dream, Invent, Create a Career in Engineering
Get kids excited about a career in engineering. Fun lessons, guidance and insights about engineering learning and careers, and the support educators need to make it all work for primary school students. Although it does reference , there are lots of discussion guides and worksheets that work as a standalone resource. Download the Teacher Guide and Student Workbook now.
The documentary focuses on the critical value of our most precious natural resource and explores the ongoing threats to its future. It seeks to educate and inform; with a range of contributions from engineers, scientists and consumers. It explores the development and current state of Ireland’s public water network, with a unique perspective on the ongoing national project to upgrade the country’s drinking water supply and wastewater treatment, and the role we all have to play in conservation.
Visit Uisce Éireann's website to access. Access the YouTube playlist.
Uisce Éireann has additional resources available that are relevant to the documentary and Water education available on www.water.ie/education, including The Story of Water Activity Booklet, videos, quizzes and worksheets and more. Links to An Taisce and Scoilnet resources are also available.
Uisce Éireann’ educational resources are available on Scoilnet, to help students learn all about water in a fun and engaging way with videos, fun activities, and support material. Check out the resources at Scoilnet resources.
How would you build a new railway to join the residents of the town to a city?
Your task is to choose the best route through all the obstacles, thinking about how your choice will affect the company, environment and community.
Play the new online game here!
Twinkl has teamed up with Engineers Ireland to celebrate STEPS Engineers Week. Find a range of STEM activities to bring active learning to the classroom or at home this year.
Twinkl have a great range of activities including individual activities children can do remotely or in the classroom.
Access resources now.
The Safe Routes to School Engineers Week activity (available in Irish and English) covers research, data, and design across the three parts of the activity. The activity is aimed at upper primary school students from 3rd to 6th class. Part 1 introduces students to research, which is often a part of engineering projects, with a focus on the design of our streets and roads. Part 2 introduces data and discussion on how far students can walk and what factors might influence this. Part 3 provides the students with a chance to identify and come up with solutions for issues on their routes to school.
STEPS Engineers Week – Green-Schools (greenschoolsireland.org)
Mergon have compiled a sustainability workbook for children which explains what sustainability is, how children can be more sustainable and includes activities that they can complete. You can find the report on Mergon's website here: Mergon Sustainability Reports
Friday March 10th from 12-2pm. Live online free session for primary school students, 8-12yrs. Devices Required.
Through an immersive, alternative teaching and learning experience, Dream Space at Microsoft Ireland will inspire students and teachers to see technology in exciting new ways, helping them to realise the full potential of what they can achieve.
Join the Dream Space and the Garage team as they host a panel with some of our Microsoft engineers who will set some challenges for everyone to complete in the classroom.
Book now
Make sure to tag us and use our special hashtag #STEPSEngineersWeek and tag us:
Registered activity organisers will receive a Digital Promotional Pack to help promote your activities. The pack includes:
As an activity organiser it is critical for you and your students to evaluate your STEPS Engineers Week experiences, so we can analyse the positive impact of all your hard work. You can do this via our online evaluation or via a printable evaluation sheet.
Please share the survey and have your students/attendees share their STEPS Engineers Week experience. Taking part in the survey lets participants know what they would like to see for future STEPS programmes. The survey is confidential and takes less than five minutes to complete.