PEEK Princeton Engineering Education for Kids

Events

(coming soon)

Overview of PEEK

PEEK is a program through which undergraduate students have the opportunity to visit elementary school classrooms and teach children basic principles of engineering using LEGO Mindstorms robotics kits. In addition to visiting classrooms, PEEK hosts educational events for various campus groups and runs a workshop for children of alumni during alumni weekend. PEEK also holds Engineering Nights for elementary school children, where children are given the opportunity to design a LEGO robot to meet a particular challenge. PEEK's general goals as an organization are:

• To get kids interested in engineering from a young age, and to promote engineering as a viable and exciting career path for girls.
• To increase kids' ability to understand and manipulate the physical world around them.
• To supplement pre-existing curriculum units for K-12 student classrooms (e.g. Simple machines).
• To promote group-driven and cooperative problem solving through the design process.
• To show kids that engineering is fun!

PEEK was started in 2003 by Kristin Bethke and Jim McQuade (both '03), inspired by a similar program run by Chris Rogers at Tufts University. PEEK is now part of Community House, an organization that runs student-driven education programs aimed at closing the achievement gap in Princeton.

Curricula

The following links are for curricula we have used at Riverside Elementary School (2004-5), developed by Roz Echols and Jen Lewellen, based largely on material from the CEEO at Tufts.

• Kindergarten
• First grade
• Second grade
• Third grade
• Fourth grade

Old Events

• Study break, Rocky/Mathey, Princeton University, 3 Apr 2007
• Alumni day, Princeton University, 24 Feb 2007
• Engineering night, Highland Park, 22 Feb 2007
• Lego competition with SWE, 18 Nov 2006
• Engineering night, Riverside Elementary School, 18 Oct 2006
• Engineering night, Riverside Elementary School, 11 Oct 2006
• Lego Club, Riverside Elementary School (FIRST), May-June 2006
• Family science night, Lawrence Intermediate School, 4 May 2006 (flyer)
• Take your child to work day, with Princeton's OIT, 27 Apr 2006
• Engineering night, Riverside Elementary School, 5 Apr 2006
• Lego robotics with HomeFront at Quad, with PACA, 31 Mar 2006
• Alumni Day, Princeton University, 25 Feb 2006
• Engineering Night, Hopewell Elementary School, 29 Nov 2005
• Engineering Night, Riverside Elementary School, 21 Nov 2005
• Engineering Night, Riverside Elementary School, 14 Nov 2005
• Lego Competition w/ High School Colloquium and SWE, 12 Nov 2005
• Lego Engineering Workshop, Plainsboro Public Library, 15 Oct 2005 (directions)
• Engineering Night, Riverside Elementary School, 3 May 2005
• Engineering Night, Riverside Elementary School, 25 April 2005 (photos)
• Lego competition, with High School Colloquium & SWE, 19 Feb 2005
• Lego competition, with NSBE, 5 Feb 2005

Contact Information

If you are interested in being a member of PEEK and volunteering to visit classrooms or help out with engineering nights, please send email to Sara and Garrett, the co-leaders of PEEK.

Current officers:

• Co-President: Sara Fridovich-Keil '18
• Co-President: Garrett Baird '17

PEEK is made possible by the generous support of Princeton's Center for Innovation in Engineering Education (CIEE), the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach (CEEO) at Tufts University, and the National Science Foundation.