Bringing Engineering to Life in Middle School

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Bringing Engineering to Life in Middle SchoolAn online tutorial for middle school teachers

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SECTIONS OF THIS TUTORIAL

1. Why Teach Engineering?2. Engineering Myths and Truths3. The EDP (Engineering Design

Process)4. Classroom Connections5. Engineering Suggestions

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You be a better teacher Your students be better learners

ENGINEERING CAN HELP

WHY TEACHENGINEERING?

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Engineering takes advantage of children’s inherent interest in how things work and offers a practical,

efficient way to teach STEM.

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Engineering often improves learning and student achievement in science and math.


Source: “Why Use Engineering in Education?” National Academy of Engineering

http://linkengineering.org/Discover/5826.aspx

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Engineering “clarifies the relevance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to everyday life.”


Source:Next Generation Science Standards

http://www.nextgenscience.org/

http://www.nextgenscience.org/

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WHY TEACH ENGINEERING?

The E in STEM pulls it all together.

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Doing engineering inspires a much broader range of students than you might expect to consider a STEM-based career.


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Why should kids wait until high school to do what comes naturally to them now, when engineering can help them learn in so many ways?


WHY NOT?

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ENGINEERING MYTHS AND TRUTHS

MYTHEngineers are guys in hard hats who do math problems all day.

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Engineers are diverse and come to the profession with a passion to solve real-world problems.

TRUTH

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There are many stereotypes about engineering.

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Engineering Myths and Truths

Engineering is basically the same thing as science, and you’re already teaching science.

MYTH


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They are different and complementary: Science answers questions

through experimentation. Engineering solves problems

through design.

TRUTH

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Science is familiar and you know how to teach it, but engineering is foreign territory.


MYTH

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Science and engineering overlap. Examples of skills necessary to both: Plan and carry out investigations. Create models. Construct and interpret graphs. Evaluate competing design solutions.

TRUTH


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Engineering is dry and pragmatic, focused on facts and numbers. It’s not imaginative or artistic.


MYTH

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Engineers use their creativity and analytical skills to invent, design, and build things that matter. By finding imaginative and practical solutions, engineers are changing the world all the time.ENGINEERING

MYTHS AND TRUTHS

TRUTH

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Only certain kinds of kids are going to become engineers, and there aren’t that many of them.


MYTH

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Exposing middle schoolers to the wide range of opportunities in engineering gets many of them really excited about becoming engineers.

TRUTH


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You need a professional degree in math, technology, or physics in order to understand or teach engineering at the middle school level.ENGINEERING

MYTHS AND TRUTHS

MYTH

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No particular professional degree required—just curiosity from you and your students to explore how things work.


TRUTH

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You also need to understand the Engineering Design Process, which you are about to learn.


TRUTH

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THE EDP

All engineers use the

engineering design process (EDP).

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THE EDP

What does the EDP look like in a middle school classroom?

BUILD A CANDY DISPENSER ACTIVITY Your ChallengeMake a candy dispenser that givesout a little bit of candy at a time.

Materials Include• Glue gun• X-ACTO knife• Pieces of candy• Paper plate• CD/DVD• Craft sticks• Tape

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THE EDPThe ProblemMake a dispenser that gives a little bit of candy at a time.

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THE EDPThe Specs• Use at least 10 of the

activity materials• The dispenser must

dispense only a few pieces of candy at a time

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THE EDPBrainstorm• Examine materials• Discuss their uses,

advantages, drawbacks• Explore potential solutions

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THE EDPDesign• Choose one idea• Draw pictures• Discuss how it will work• Ask what might not work

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THE EDPBuild• Designs will evolve• It’s a messy, loud stage• It’s worth it…it makes

engineering come to life!

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THE EDP

• Set up testing zone• Record results • Redesign to improve• Add requirements for kids

who need more of a challenge

Test, Improve, Redesign

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THE EDPShare It!• Students present their

solutions• Discuss what worked, what

didn’t• Say what they liked about

each other’s designs

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Engineers move back and forth among these steps. They might share results at any point, for example, and use feedback to go back to brainstorming.

THE EDP

The Process

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Students will try to skip steps, like design, and go right to build. When planning, decide how much time students will spend on each step. You’ll also notice that some activities emphasize certain steps more than others.

TIP

THE EDP

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Engineering design process

Scientific inquiry

Project-based learning

CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS

Three Teaching Methods

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Creativity Communication Critical Thinking Collaboration

Share Key Characteristics

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In all three approaches, the teacher becomes a guide and trouble shooter, rather than main conveyor of information.


STUDENTS LEARN BY DOING

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The second part of the formula iscombining the messages with a

hands–on activity

Learning by doing helps students understand why failure is such an important part of the process.

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A great example of how PBL and EDP work together is Future City.


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Students spend four months researching, designing, and building cities of the future.

Thea Sahr

I have really nice color photos that I"ll use here instead of a bw version.

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• Storm water management• Waste management• Public spaces

As students design their cities, they also explore an urban sustainability issue. Past examples include…

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• Project plan• Virtual City • City Essay• City Model• City Presentation

Future City project deliverables:


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• Reveal underlying technology• Reinforce science and math concepts• Motivate students: they’re fun!


ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES

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Deepen students’ exploration of topics that are already part of the curriculum.

ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES

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DiscoverE Activity Classroom Topic

Build an air-powered gondola Propulsion

Make a water filtration system

Clean water

Design a spaceship Space exploration

Make a glowing light stick Electrical circuits

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If you are doing a social studies unit on science, technology, and society, add a real-world engineering project.


ADD ENGINEERING

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A local city planner or engineer to talk about planning a playground. Students may be surprised to hear how much thought goes into the design of a swing, slide, or other equipment.

INVITE

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Next, do the DiscoverE marble run activity.


MARBLE RUN ACTIVITY Your ChallengeCreate a track that keeps a marble rolling longer than any other team’s does.Materials Include• Stopwatch• Plastic cups• Marbles• Paper towel tubes• Masking tape

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Expand on what students learned by studying an actual roller coaster, preferably a local one.

Or show them this next video…


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Show students the Sum of All Thrills video about designing roller coasters.

https://youtu.be/wdlKd-qRxUg

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Find activities at: DiscoverE.org

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ENGINEERING SUGGESTIONS

Invite engineers to your classroom to talk to your students.

IDEA 1

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Local university Local chapters of engineering

societies Local engineering companies

FIND GUEST ENGINEERS

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Connect engineering to what matters to middle schoolers. For example, they can do the DiscoverE activity Design a Shoe, and then see a video about designing a skateboarding shoe.


IDEA 2

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Show the Extreme Enough? Video.

https://youtu.be/Ija-6gR2Kpw

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In your professional learning community or grade-level team, see where engineering could be added.


IDEA 3

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Ask students to watch, listen, or read a news article about a problem in their community that engineers are solving.


IDEA 4

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That’s it. You’re ready to bring engineering alive for your students.

How are you going to begin?

Funding for this training was provided by: