Despina Makes a Splash Storybook

Overview

Despina is a girl who dives right into challenges and new experiences. Her favorite place for exploring with her cousins Chrisanthy and Nikolas is the water. In the ocean, neither her fretful mama nor the hilly roads on the coast of her island home in Santorini, Greece, can slow her and her wheelchair down. 

Finding a mysterious object bobbing at the surface of the sea sets the trio off on an adventure. Nikolas, an ocean engineer, thinks he might know what the metal box is. Could it be treasure? Can it help the girls recover Chrisanthy’s own treasure—a favorite pair of goggles stuck on a rock deep below the ocean’s surface? With Nikolas’s help, Despina and Chrisanthy plunge into designing a submersible to help them retrieve Chrisanthy’s goggles. 

Readers are encouraged to design their own submersible. With some creativity and knowledge of the engineering design process, everyone can engineer! 

Engineering Field: Ocean Engineering

Science Field: Physical Sciences

Setting: Greece

The Try-It! Kit includes everything one student needs to complete the challenge and practice thinking like an engineer. 

Try It! Kits

Let students get hands-on with STEM and engineering, even in a virtual learning environment.

Try It! Kits enhance your Engineering is Elementary storybooks with engaging hands-on learning. Designed to be used in conjunction with the storybooks, the Try It! Kits can also be used as a standalone STEM activity.

Each Engineering is Elementary Try It! Kit includes all of the materials a student needs to complete the mini-design challenge, with instructions in English and Spanish.

Build STEM literacy and engage learners in real-world challenges.