This module will introduce students to different careers and fields within engineering and architecture. Students learn these careers are made up of people who solve problems. Students get the opportunity to work like engineers and solve local problems themselves. This unit takes a local, environmental point of view to problem solving.

In this module, students will learn about how climate change has led to sea level rise in California, and more specifically, use the city of Pacifica and its inhabitants as a model for how to define local problems and solve them.  They will use the Engineering Design Process after watching videos and reading about sea level rise (using the PPI) thinking routine. Sea Level rise was selected as the initial (whole class) environmental problem due to its disproportionate impact on communities of color in the San Francisco Bay Area.  After watching videos of Pacifica and analyzing stakeholders in an article highlighting impacts on a Pacific Island (Kiribati), students can make connections to their own contexts.  The reading was selected because our community of East Palo Alto has a large Pacific Islander community. The first cycle will culminate in low resolution prototypes that solve “how might we” problem statements connected to sea level rise. 

Students will learn about how Engineers and Architects help solve real life problems using emerging technological tools to monitor for and mitigate impacts of climate change (and work to slow it).  They will then learn about other effects of climate change and use that to do the engineering design process with a climate change effect that they choose.  They are introduced to BBC micro:bit, a pocket sized computer as a tool to use it’s capabilities to design and build in their prototypes for the end of the unit culminating solutionary design project.

Module Overview: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dmewiui8DG6O5olJXdj346uNH_2qX_JTK4v_9iO6bVA/edit?usp=sharing 

For the lessons that include slide decks, please make sure you check the notes at the bottom of individual slides for instructional recommendations and suggestions. 

During this lesson, students are presented with an overview of engineering and the engineering design process. In Part 2, the students take on the role of an engineering and use the engineering design process to brainstorm solutions to real-life problems; they develop these solutions by testing and redesigning prototypes that work within given constraints.

Lesson plan

Slide deck

Engineering Design Student Notebook (optional)

Sample Book Creator Notebook

With the Three Little Pigs Engineering Design Challenge students will team up to build houses for the Three Little Pigs out of index cards and masking tape. After subjecting the constructed houses to a wind test, teams will have the opportunity to rebuild or reinforce their structures before a second wind test!

Part 1 of this activity reintroduces students to the steps of the engineering design process. Engineers use the engineering design process when brainstorming solutions to real-life problems; they develop these solutions by testing and redesigning prototypes that work within given constraints.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15w4JQGX4XxADzXXTq3LCUBc4eLHW10mL3Pbq5HG3JEM/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11jQQo47QN_Mp19RAVmM44r4mIxy7C6WnIhi84l0Nqi8/edit#slide=id.gb6790d020a_0_0 

Teacher Instruction Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/195YYEyy_BlbaxfT4LnvagoiqyTsLgGduItPeTmS60qM/edit 

Student Instruction Sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17ccAbh_VGIrjQV36jgrAONCpZ0_KPrvJtrfn0SwiNi8/edit 

In this lesson, students are introduced to their first problem cycle.  In this 3 lesson sequence, students will dive into sea level rise and practice (with teacher scaffolding) the Engineering Design Process that was introduced in the fundamentals sequence.  They use the Parts, People, Interactions protocol to better understand the effects of sea level rise so that they can come up with problems to solve in the engineering design process.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16RyWDpu-RITcMcMeIN_9P0GHdXm7nkDs2hzzFFGOlf4/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jO-lj5G4omvPNm_4-6BeC35Wf3s8RHbfcX33v0VqZIo/edit#slide=id.gd2cfdb3770_1_117 

Climate change to affect Pacific Island Nations: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lCpq3Eosdm_WdAgJxXOfNKZr9MPOsru2/view?usp=sharing 

In the previous lesson, students read an article about  how climate change is threatening the country of Kiribati. They identified specific people and places affected and interactions within the system, using the Parts, People, Interactions thinking routine.  At the end of the lesson students (in groups of 3) picked a person from the article to design for.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1POx33dY3nE6pzYK0oTuUZw4gyUeRFec_HlhI3lW1fr8/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/13wx_0qMR8eWGUtmepWvGde_E_PUWBPGUNEMayShcbLM/edit#slide=id.ge10d7c557b_0_254 

In the previous lesson, students read an article about  how climate change is threatening the country of Kiribati. Link to video

They identified specific people and places affected and interactions within the system, using the Parts, People, Interactions thinking routine.  At the end of lesson 3, students (in groups of 3) picked a person from the article to design for.  

In lesson 4 they dive deeper into building empathy and understanding of their stakeholder. They move on to the problem definition step of the engineering design process and come into this lesson with a problem statement and their first round of feedback.

In this lesson they start building rapid prototypes to go deeper in their design and get more feedback from a partner.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-VJqA4OlmAyDEs4RkdWLAq-BZIr62L214Rl4ug7p_rU/edit?usp=sharing  

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bC3i7EKr6whwBSGUuulGVhpGTl59fYdYErquJj6-1tY/edit?usp=sharing 

For this lesson students will have a choice of articles. Link to articles Climate in Action - Micro Bits Grassroots Ecology - Youth Stewards Climate Solutions in East Palo Alto Happens in Schools Go Solar - Stanford Climate Change Impact on Buildings - Klimatilpasning Students identified specific people and places affected and interactions within the system, using the Parts, People, Interactions thinking routine.  Groups will be determined by the articles that students choose. (3-4) per group. 

During the previous project students were guided through the design process while investigating Sea Level Rise, now students will choose an article on the Effects of Climate Change or propose one. 

LESSON 6

In the previous problem cycle, students used the parts, people and interactions routine to help understand a system and its stakeholders. This was used to help them pick a person to design for, and a problem to solve using the engineering design process.  

Problem cycle 2 starts with offering  students a choice of articles that talk about different effects of climate change on communities.  Students could also be allowed to bring in environmental issues that they identify. Students pick a problem that resonates with them, and are then grouped based on that.  Students repeat the Parts Purposes Interactions routine to identify their stakeholder and define a problem to solve.

In the previous lesson students formed groups based on interest and identified a stakeholder to design for and crafted a problem statement for their user.  For example, students who read the article ---- might have a problem statement like -----.  In this lesson students will use peer review with a rubric to give feedback on the problem statements.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hgzBc4w7bWv9sfyCQobnqtD_1KJmg4BmopwkBO9pgGc/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ge1oz3vNQiapnzKcnep1OeUR7MRQ5ecdG7lp1M9aOe0/edit?usp=sharing 

For this lesson students will have a choice of articles. Link to articles Climate in Action - Micro Bits Grassroots Ecology - Youth Stewards Climate Solutions in East Palo Alto Happens in Schools Go Solar - Stanford Climate Change Impact on Buildings - Klimatilpasning Students identified specific people and places affected and interactions within the system, using the Parts, People, Interactions thinking routine.  Groups will be determined by the articles that students choose. (3-4) per group. 

Problem cycle 2 starts with offering  students a choice of articles that talk about different effects of climate change on communities.  Students could also be allowed to bring in environmental issues that they identify. Students pick a problem that resonates with them, and are then grouped based on that.  Students repeat the Parts Purposes Interactions routine to identify their stakeholder and define a problem to solve.

In the previous lesson students formed groups based on interest and identified a stakeholder to design for and crafted a problem statement for their user.  For example, students who read the article Climate change impact on buildings and constructions

might have a problem statement like: The construction of the two large Danish bridges, the Great Belt bridge and the Oresund bridge, took into account future climate change.  The bridges and their shore-based installations are directly exposed during events with high water levels. The shore-based installations are therefore protected by dykes. However, the accessibility of these installations could be affected by more frequent storms. 

In this lesson students will use peer review with a rubric to give feedback on the problem statements using TAG.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bcWBdjkZsx8t80u-wMZDok9yVRllhr_6ccY_L_ZGgI4/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1n6T8iG52Ytt-tJFCurQKG55VoDuju2FEOghsNRFzIyA/edit?usp=sharing 

In the previous lessons, students have identified their problem statements for the climate change issue that they are passionate about solving as an Engineer. Engineers use modern technological tools to find solutions for real world issues. In this lesson students are presented with an overview of BBC micro:bit, a pocket sized computer and use its hardware and software capabilities to use with their Engineering Design Process to create the prototypes for their problem of interest. 

Lesson plan

Slide deck

Parts of a microbit

In the previous lessons, students have identified their problem statements for the climate change issue that they are passionate about solving as an Engineer. Engineers use modern technological tools to find solutions for real world issues. In this lesson students are presented with an overview of BBC micro:bit, a pocket sized computer and use its hardware and software capabilities to use with their Engineering Design Process to create the prototypes for their problem of interest. 

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_iAr-V8GQgas7bthUHJlBxeesJ0CwnUABEqPlsmQKag/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/0/d/184ty-AkmjfO18m5F3rbMt4Fhzzd2A8CsNWpkMOPgkFw/edit 

In the previous lesson students are presented with an overview of BBC micro:bit, a pocket sized computer and use its hardware and software capabilities to use with their Engineering Design Process to create the prototypes for their problem of interest. For this lesson students continue creating their rapid prototype integrating the micro-bit into their projects.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bRYuipq5Br0cZ4l_o84EGZO2AJXLoYZxNS3n90dxfs4/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qbY6tW305SCTDzkteO8qmMMHlGsT-e-JuyAH8cLXL8Y/edit?usp=sharing 

In the previous lesson student groups established their needs statement, identified materials, and brainstormed ideas for projects, now they will begin to create their prototypes, incorporating the use of the BBC Micro-bits.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oGXBn2HIrpBCGPJaxtZaog7r-ixpFZ0NbjcuL4USoSo/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZkQsA_tMpBBSfSmeJcIltWSuU98ouWkaI00DWFivN4Y/edit?usp=sharing 

In the previous lesson students are presented with an overview of BBC micro:bit, a pocket sized computer and use its hardware and software capabilities to use with their Engineering Design Process to create the prototypes for their problem of interest. For this lesson students continue creating their rapid prototype integrating the micro-bit into their projects. 

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1L6sjb1xaLsl3kqb0A2VodjjZ5KDJZp9tpYXn3K_AdGw/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1CuRIBmH-ge_GMsDPdo5MQeIQIGN4IGUbYBygOxSEBPw/edit?usp=sharing 

In the previous lesson students create their prototypes, In this lesson they will test their designs and iterate the next design.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/144Qhrhu3giRWbJOxUYVeXWrH7HE8f-xrS9zBrmUl1sg/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19Viu4mcVWq-GYr9JwG7hIZ0-ckMfdaVBiyg8dYdIBT8/edit?usp=sharing 

In the previous lesson students tested and iterated their designs, they will now create a presentation using a display board, slide deck, or adobe spark presentation. Students will present to their classmates during a Galley Walk and will complete peer evaluation rubrics. Students will include PPI and Engineering Design processes, and information they learned about Sea Level Rise, and the Effects of Climate Change. Students must also show their physical project during the presentation.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aoEPa_-sq0b29XxZboYDE2-y2n3dSPyJ3HBcusVjgo4/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rQnmD2AuMhedEPzEmWAsy38-gK_xkJ-Tg-OqOZAJ9vY/edit?usp=sharing 

Engineering Design Process Rubric: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oZ9dlQO2I8eP4smALdN-jlk2uVcBT-9vYJGHLnyxWAE/edit?usp=sharing 

Students will reflect on Sea Level Rise, Effects of climate Change, PPI, and the Engineering Design Process, by writing in their Engineering Design Journals.

Lesson plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KRIeLaYBTwT92OjCjz2OJ-RkPys_UN1VlS5cfC3Cp-A/edit?usp=sharing 

Slide deck: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/12N4rt0L4m97aND8o4kLiIks77xQrc4V2Omw0DaCTUhM/edit?usp=sharing