# Training engineers and teachers after a crisis: a four-year curriculum

> A four-year study plan using an offline archive, with workshop practice and checkpoints for engineers, teachers and medics.

## Quick answer

Read, make, test, teach every week. Year 1 foundations, year 2 practical sciences, year 3 engineering, year 4 specialisation and teaching a class. Mathematics comes first and the first graduates teach the next.

*Part of [Day Zero](/day-zero), the plan for an AI-related crisis that gets out of control. [Why it exists](/day-zero/purpose). General information, not medical advice: [how these guides are reviewed](/day-zero/review).*

## Training engineers and teachers

An archive does not train anyone by itself. A **plan, a teacher and a workshop** do. This is a plan that fits a group with a few readers, a reading room and a small workshop.

## Principles

1. **Read, make, test, teach.** Every week has all four.
2. **Mathematics first**: arithmetic, algebra, geometry, then calculus. Everything else depends on it.
3. **Teach the teachers.** The first graduates teach the next ones from month six.
4. **Write down** what you learn in your own words and keep it with the archive.
5. **Keep records:** who has passed which checkpoint.

## Year 1: foundations

- Reading, writing, arithmetic, fractions, measurement.
- Algebra and geometry; units; estimation.
- Basic science: forces, energy, heat, light, electricity, the cell, hygiene.
- Workshop: tools, measuring, cutting, joining, fire safety.
- **Checkpoint:** can build a measured, working object (a table, a sled, a filter) from a drawing.

## Year 2: the practical sciences

- Trigonometry, introduction to calculus, statistics.
- Physics: mechanics, fluids, thermodynamics. Chemistry: elements, reactions, acids and bases, combustion, soap.
- Biology and agriculture: soils, plants, animals, nutrition, disease.
- Workshop: pottery and brick-making, forging, carpentry, textiles.
- **Checkpoint:** builds a water pump, a charcoal kiln or a simple mill that works.

## Year 3: engineering

- Calculus and differential equations; materials science; structures.
- Electricity and magnetism; motors, generators, batteries; circuits; solar systems.
- Machines: levers, gears, water wheels, steam, internal combustion.
- Medicine and public health for all engineers.
- **Checkpoint:** builds and repairs a solar-battery system, a water wheel or a generator.

## Year 4: specialisation and teaching

- Choose one: **civil** (building, roads, water, bridges), **mechanical** (tools, machine shop), **electrical**, **chemical** (soap, lime, fertiliser, glass), **agricultural**, **medical**, **computing** (using the archive device, simple programming).
- Apprentice with a practitioner.
- **Teach a younger class** for a term.
- **Checkpoint:** a project the group needs, designed, built, documented and taught.

## Using the archive

Use the [Downloads](/downloads) groups: open textbooks (OpenStax, LibreTexts), Stack Exchange archives for questions, Wikipedia for reference, Survivor Library for old practical methods, Kolibri for lessons.

## History and civics

Include one hour a week of history and ethics. Study how past societies collapsed and recovered, what worked, and what failed. A rebuilt world without that memory repeats the mistakes.

## Printing

Print the textbook chapters your class needs most: devices fail first. See the [printable booklet](/day-zero/booklet).

*Review status: not yet checked by a named professional. Read [how these guides are reviewed](/day-zero/review) and check anything medical or dangerous with a qualified person where you can.*

## Common questions

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Source: https://www.toswo.com/day-zero/curriculum
Published by TOSWO Research (https://www.toswo.com/research). Free to cite with attribution: https://www.toswo.com/cite