Tell a six-year-old that elasticity relies on a key principle of engineering and expect eyes to glaze over. Let that child make a mini-bungee jump by putting an egg in the toe of a nylon stocking to test how far it can drop before it splatters, however, and consider it a lesson in engineering learned.
Messy? Maybe, but it suits the aims of the organizers of National Engineers Week 2002(tm) (Alexandria, VA) just fine. In an effort to reach an even younger audience, namely 6 to 12 year olds, the National Engineers Week committee, a consortium of more than 100 engineering societies and corporations, is launching a new educational program, Zoom™ Into Engineering.