It's Cool to Be a Civil Engineer

Resource for Grades 3-8

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Media Type:
Video

Running Time: 3m 14s
Size: 9.6 MB

Source: Building Big: "Thinking Big, Building Small"

This resource was adapted from Building Big: "Thinking Big, Building Small."

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Civil engineers take pride in the fact that their work contributes to society, helping people get places quickly and safely, and providing them with vital resources such as clean water and electricity whenever they need them. In this video segment, adapted from Thinking Big, Building Small, some civil engineers talk about the creativity and logic that go into their work.

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Background Essay

Civil engineers use creativity and a strong foundation in math and science to design and maintain our infrastructure. It helps to think of them as problem solvers. They assess problems, envision solutions, and apply practical knowledge to make their ideas reality.

There are several disciplines within the field of civil engineering. More often than not, professionals in the different disciplines work together to complete a project. Transportation engineers, for example, deal with analysis and planning of highways, railways, and traffic control systems, while geotechnical engineers determine the suitability of rock and soil to safely support building activities.

Structural engineers are most closely associated with bridges, tunnels, buildings, and dams. With a thorough understanding of calculus, physics, and chemistry, they arrange structural elements to manage the pushing and pulling forces that act on suspension bridges and skyscrapers alike. They also know which building materials are best for the job from both a safety and a cost-management perspective. Advanced computer programs assist today's structural engineers in design procedures, but they still rely on their experience, expertise, and judgment when difficult decisions must be made.

Though trial and error has provided the engineering field with numerous lessons throughout the years, education and training are what best prepare civil engineers to do their job. That and a willingness to abide by a strict code of ethics that emphasizes safety and human welfare before all else.

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Discussion Questions

What kinds of problems do civil engineers solve?

In the video segment, notice that the beams in the building extended from one column to another. The boy used his arm as a beam, but it was not supported at the other (the hand) end. What did this mean about his shoulder? How would things change for him if he put his hand on a second column?

Why is designing a bookcase like designing a building?

Have you ever observed a building under construction? What parts could you see?

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Transcript

NARRATOR: The structures around us usually blend into the background of our lives. But sometimes, looking up at a very tall building, riding through a long tunnel or crossing an extremely high bridge, you stop and wonder, "How did they make this?" and "Why did they make it this way?" At those moments, you are marveling over the work of civil engineers.

DAVID PREVATT, Civil Engineer: The fun is coming up with an idea, designing something, drawing it and explaining it to someone and then building it.

SUSAN KNACK, Civil Engineer: I see my designs put into action. I find that very exciting. And I just get to get outside and to do things. And I also feel like I get to help people because you build a structure that helps someone.

NARRATOR: If you looked around a room and then traveled back in time, you would see the hidden work of engineers people who specialize in designing a variety of structures, including very tall buildings called "skyscrapers."

GIRL: I think they're really cool, and I just like how you can see the scenery through the windows. It's really beautiful. Skyscrapers, they're a fun thing to look at from down there.

BOY: I like them because, like, they're tall.

NARRATOR: But how do these tall buildings stand up? The short answer: columns and beams. Your own body provides a great example for learning about them.

KNACK: The human body's a structure. You've got an outer shell that's your skin and then you’ve got the inner bones which form a structure that support your weight.

PREVATT: Imagine your head. Your head is a weight on top of your shoulders and your shoulders are weight on top of your torso. All this weight has to be transferred down to the ground. All right, and that's what a column does. Columns are connected by beams.

KNACK: If you held your arm out and held a book in that, your arm would be acting as a beam. It would support the load and carry it back to your main body... which is then a column that would carry the load to the ground.

PREVATT: Your feet will serve as a foundation, because they support the entire weight of your body. And similarly, the foundation of a building supports the weight of the building.

For me, um... there is nothing more important than my reputation as a civil engineer to provide the best solution to my clients.

KNACK: I take a lot of pride in seeing my design become reality and that applies to when I'm at home building a small bookcase to when I get to build a large building or design a roof or do any sort of structure like that. And so I will go out sometimes when it's completed and drag my family along with me, and say, "Do you see what I got to do?" And I take a lot of pride in that.