Project 2: Earthquake and Boise River Bridge Design - A Project-based STEM +Computing Inquiry (90 minutes in total including 10 minutes break in the middle of the session)
Overall guiding question: How can we build a bridge for the Boise River that is strong enough to resist earthquake forces?
Sub questions: 1) What can we do to resist an earthquake?
2) What are the considerations for designing a bridge for the Boise River strong enough to resist earthquakes?
Learning outcome: A group discussion/presentation on the considerations - bridge types, locations, and K’NEX materials - for building a bridge across the Boise River strong enough to resist earthquakes.
CT component embedded in student activities:
Simulation and Modeling: Students will try and understand how to resist earthquakes through some simulation activities
Data Collection: Students will gather information on how to resist earthquakes
Communication: Students will keep a journal and make a presentation to the class
Entry event (for motivation purpose) - 10 minutes
Teacher reviews key concepts from the previous lesson by asking, “Do you recall, what causes an earthquake?” PAUSEs to allow students to answer. Proceeds, “We talked about ways that buildings resist an earthquake. Let’s take a look at how this is done for bridges.”
A teacher directs students to watch about a video (3:31) titled “Quake-Proof Bridge” by National Geographic.
Teacher asks students if there are any bridges they can recall seeing in Boise? Teacher asks, “Do these bridges look like the one in the video? Do you think these bridges could withstand an earthquake?”
Hands-on scientific inquiry on “What considerations are needed to build a bridge for the Boise River strong enough to resist earthquakes?”: 40 minutes
Students in a group of three research different types of bridges and locations on the Boise River to answer the two sub questions above; the students will decide what type of bridge to consider and vote or suggest different bridge types and locations; one person needs to be in charge of recording the decisions of the class (the teacher needs to discuss the individual roles within the group and the rotation of roles in this process: e.g. recorder, internet researcher, simulation participants, time-keeper, and presenter); students present their decision to the teacher, with one person leading the discussion - why did they choose the bridge type?
Resources provided: The following resources will be provided for this inquiry activity:
Student Led Presentation: 20 minutes
The students meet to discuss their research findings and consider what points are most important to share. This discussion should follow the individual group roles established earlier during the research portion of session (e.g. recorder, internet researcher, simulation participants, time-keeper, and presenter).
The student presenter(s) communicates their research findings and decisions for how to best proceed with the bridge design. The teacher asks questions to clarify student choices and reasoning.
End of Session Reflection and Debriefing: 5-10 minutes Using the Problem Solving Process diagram, the teacher will ask students to identify what kind of problem solving skills/process/computational thinking they used in this session and explain how they used it. The following are some sample questions that can guide the debrief.
What did I learn today?
What problem solving skills/processes or CT components I used today in this diagram?
How did you use the problem solving skills/processes/CT components?
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