Elementary School (Grades K-5)

Books
Selected Websites

The following books from the Library's collections highlight some of the library's engineering collections. The bibliography contains a selection of books for elementary school-aged students. Each item links to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are provided when available.

To find additional books on this topic, search the online catalog using the following Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

Books

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba; Bryan Mealer; Anna Hymas (Illustrator)
Call Number: TJ140.K36 A3 2015
ISBN: 9780803740808
Published/Created: 2015
This is about a young inventor who brought electricity to his Malawian village.
How Was That Built? The Stories Behind Awesome Structures by Roma Agrawal; Katie Hickey (Illustrator)
Call Number: TA634 .A45 2022
ISBN: 9781547609291
Published/Created: 2022
This book explains the feats of engineering behind the world's most impressive architectural marvels.
I Want to Be an Engineer by Stephanie Maze; Catherine O. Grace
Call Number: TA157 .M3415 1997
ISBN: 0152012982
Published/Created: 1997
Various careers are explored, including civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering as well as robotics and animatronics, which creates many of the special effects used in movies.
Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty; David Roberts (Illustrator)
Call Number: PZ8.3.B38447 Ro 2013
ISBN: 9781419708459
Published/Created: 2013
Rosie Revere's great-great-aunt is Rosie the Riveter, who helps her overcome her fear of failure to become an engineer.
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe
Call Number: Q173 .M964 2015
ISBN: 9780544668256
Published/Created: 2015
In Thing Explainer, the author uses line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, "ten hundred") most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is. This book is for anyone--age 5 to 105--who has ever wondered how things work and why.
Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton; Don Tate (Illustrator)
Call Number: T40.J585 B37 2016
ISBN: 9781580892971
Published/Created: 2016
A childhood favorite and summer staple, the Super Soaker was invented entirely by accident. Trying to create a new cooling system for rockets, inventor Lonnie Johnson instead created the mechanics for an iconic toy.

Code.org External
"Code.org® is an education innovation nonprofit dedicated to the vision that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education." - Publisher's description.
Engineering, Go For It (eGFI) External
"Created by the American Society for Engineering Education, eGFI's aim is to foster educational and pre-professional interest in engineering and other STEM subjects from kindergarten through high school." - Publisher's description.
Khan Academy External
"Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. We tackle math, science, computing, history, art history, economics, and more, including K-14 and test preparation (SAT, Praxis, LSAT) content. We focus on skill mastery to help learners establish strong foundations, so there's no limit to what they can learn next!" - Publisher's description.
NASA Kids' Club
Space-related games and activities
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for Kids
Explore a wide variety of resources and activities for kids of all ages.

Engineering Resources for Students and Educators

Science & Technical Reports: Ask a Librarian

Elementary School (Grades K-5)