Designing Dandelions

When Bells and Mitch, two young space aliens from the planet Exergy, crash-land on Earth, they must apply the engineering design process to get themselves back home. Captivated by the beautiful yellow dandelions near their crash site, Bells and Mitch investigate the dandelions’ life cycle. Observing how the flowers disperse their seeds, they construct a mechanical replica to launch their ship back into space. Showing how nature itself can instruct us in engineering, Hunt and Pantoya take young readers on a journey of discovery and problem solving. The authors worked with early childhood literacy experts and science museums in developing this story that teaches the relationship between science and engineering, explains the design process, and introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts and vocabulary.

Emily Hunt is a professor of mechanical engineering at West Texas A&M University in Canyon. She is the mother of four children.
Michelle Pantoya is a professor of mechanical engineering at Texas Tech University. She lives in Lubbock with her husband and four sons.