2. Engineering Design Process
3. Student Interviews
4. Engineering Design Journals
5. Creativity & Brainstorming
Overview
Big Idea: The 21st century skills of collaboration and problem solving are essential for engineering solutions of the future.
Teacher's Note: Big ideas should be made explicit to students by writing them on the board and/or reading them aloud.
Purpose of Lesson: The purpose of this lesson is to engage students in the Foundations of Technology course from day one, while enhancing their skills that are necessary for engineering.
Standards/Benchmarks
STL 11Q. Develop and produce a product or system using a design process.
Learning Objectives
Students will collaborate with others to effectively solve a problem.
Lesson Duration: 45 minutes
Engagement:
As students enter the room, the teacher will group students in pairs and hand them a set of materials for the problem solving activity. The Materials May Include:
The teacher may choose to supply a sheet of graph paper for sketching
Teacher's Note: This activity is used to actively engage the students from day one while setting the atmosphere for the rest of the course. It is recommended that the teacher offer some type of prize for the first group of students to solve the problem.
Exploration:
The teacher will present the day one problem solving activity (First5Days Presentation 1.1). Students, working in groups of two, construct a transportation vehicle. Each team needs to design a vehicle using the provided materials to transport a passenger safely from point A to Point B. The vehicle should transport a passenger safely from point A to Point B. The teacher will set up a course for the student vehicle to travel on while students are brainstorming solutions. The course will be constructed using a fishing line as the path for the vehicle to travel on. The fishing line will start at ground level at a distance of five feet from the wall and travel at an angle upwards to about six feet high on the wall. Refer to the presentations for further instructions. The vehicle must be self-propelled and travel from the ground to the wall.
Teacher's Note: There are three means of propulsion that the students can use for their vehicles: 1. Air released from the balloon, 2. The rubber band as a slingshot, or 3. The balloon as a slingshot.
Teacher's Note: Teacher’s Note: This activity can be easily substituted should a student have an allergy to latex or for any other reason. There are several very simple engineering challenges that can be found online at: http://pbskids.org/designsquad/. Teachers may find it useful to use the Parents & Educators button in the top right-hand corner.
Explanation:
The teacher will serve as a facilitator and keep students on task by offering cues and restating the problem statement. The teacher will explain that solutions can be tested as needed.
Extension:
Students will complete the problem solving activity with their partner. Students will test their solutions as needed.
Teacher's Note: If the students finish early, ask them to modify their designs in order to travel faster.
Evaluation:
The student's knowledge, skills and attitudes are assessed through formative teacher observations and questioning.
Resource Materials
First5Days Presentation 1.1 Problem Solving Activity
Overview
Big Idea: The engineering design process is an iterative method that people use to solve problems.
Teacher's Note: Big ideas should be made explicit to students by writing them on the board and/or reading them aloud.
Purpose of Lesson: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to a simplified version of the Engineering Design Process. Students will apply the simplified process through Unit 1. In Unit 2 students will be introduced to the twelve-step high school version of the Engineering Design Process.
Standards/Benchmarks
STL 8H. The design process includes defining a problem, brainstorming, researching and generating ideas, identifying criteria, specifying constraints, exploring possibilities, selecting an approach, developing a design proposal, making a model or prototype, testing and evaluating the design using specifications, refining the design, creating or making it, and communicating processes and results.
Learning Objectives
Students will apply the steps in the simplified engineering design process to design a solution to a problem.
Lesson Duration: 45 minutes
Engagement:
The teacher will review the day one problem solving activity (Presentation 1.1). Students will discuss their solutions and how they worked as a group to solve the problem.
Exploration:
The teacher will ask students to help him/her build a version of the engineering design process. Student response should be based on the process they used to complete the day one problem solving activity. The teacher may ask the following questions to solicit student responses:
The teacher will guide students in creating a basic version of the design process. Using a large sheet of paper or the whiteboard, the teacher will record student responses and develop a simplified version of the Engineering Design Process that was used to solve this activity.
Teacher's Note: Students will apply the simplified process through Unit 1. In Unit 2, students will be introduced to the twelve-step high school version of the Engineering Design Process.
Explanation:
The Teacher will present the engineering design process presentation (First5Days Presentation 2.1). The teacher will explain that people design on a daily basis and that design relates humans to their environment. Nature is the only thing that is not designed by man. The teacher will review a simple version of the design process.
Extension:
Each student will create a graphic organizer which characterizes the simple engineering design process. Students may use any word processing software. Students may add picture(s) for each step in the process.
Teacher's Note: The teacher may collect the organizers as an exit ticket. The teacher may also have students save this information to post in their Engineering Design Journals (presented in Day 4).
Evaluation:
The student's knowledge, skills and attitudes are assessed through formative teacher observations and questioning.
Resource Materials
First5Days Presentation 2.1 Engineering Design Process Presentation