How Engineers Solve Problems

Like other books in the “Engineering Everywhere” subgroup of the “Full STEAM Ahead” series, How Engineers Solve Problems is packed with colourful photos and limited text. It presents engaging examples of the connections between Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math.

The format of the book is very visually appealing. Photos show males and females of a variety of ages and ethnicities demonstrating engineers in action. How Engineers Solve Problems explains that different problems need different solutions. Engineers often use a standard problem-solving model to solve very different problems.

Words in bold throughout the book, such as “improve” are defined in “Words to Know” at the end of the book. In addition to the definition, each word in the list is also identified as a noun, a verb, or an adjective. An explanation of the parts of speech is included on the same page at the end of the book. A Table of Contents and a brief Index are also included in the book.

The steps in the design process outlined in How Engineers Solve Problems are Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. Each step in the design process is explained simply with text and photos and illustrations. A final step, Do It Again, emphasizes that “Solving problems is not easy! Engineers often repeat steps in the process again and again, until their solution works well”.

Each book in “Engineering Everywhere” includes “STEAM Notes for Educators” on the last page of the book. The notes outline activities intended to guide teachers and parents/caregivers to extend the ideas in the book. Worksheets to support the activities in “How Engineers Solve Problems” are found at www.crabtreebooks.com/resources/printables. These worksheets help students build a growth mindset: “when we learn from mistakes and do not give up, it is called ‘growth mindset’”. The link to www.crabtreeplus.com/fullsteamahead is not working at the time of this review.

The other three titles in “Engineering Everywhere” are Engineering in My Community, Mistakes Help Us Learn, and What Does an Engineer Do?. All of the books in the series are well-suited to primary students. The basic information in the set of four books is consistent but presented with a slightly different focus. It is worth purchasing the entire set if possible.