Engineering

What is Engineering? Watch the videos and write down your thoughts on the lab. Engineering is Amazing Video What is Engineering? Video

What is Engineering? Engineering is the art of applying scientific and mathematical principles, experience, judgment, and common sense to make things that benefit people. -Identify Problems -Designing Solutions

Why is Engineering Important? Engineering prepares you to think, solve problems, be creative, and understand new technologies.

The Engineering Design Process

ASK: IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM Isolate the main challenge or problem that needs to be addressed. This will inform your path through the cycle and help you plan with the specific requirements that must be met in mind. To identify the problem, engineers ask questions about what they want to create, whether it be a skyscraper, need to build a bridge over a river, amusement park ride, bicycle, or smartphone. These questions include: What is the problem to solve? What do we want to design? Who is it for? What do we want to accomplish? What are the project requirements? What are the limitations? What is our goal? Build the tallest tower that can hold a marshmallow safely away from predators.

DETERMINE THE CONSTRAINTS 10 minutes to research, 10 min to design, 10 min to plan 20 minutes to build, 30 to redesign and build DO NOT CUT THE STRING!!! Marshmallow must be unharmed at the top of the structure (no piercing the marshmallow). Tower must stand upright freestanding from the table top. Stay within your budget.

IMAGINE: RESEARCH/BRAINSTORM Research past projects and other researcher’s solutions to problems similar to yours.  Brainstorm with your team possible solutions to the main challenge while incorporating all ideas in your prototype. This is the time to encourage wild ideas and defer judgment and build on the ideas of others. Stay focused on topic, and have one conversation at a time. (TASK: Use the chrome books to Google search for food storage and brainstorm designs.)   

PLAN: DEVELOP PROTOTYPE A prototype is a special type of model used to test new design ideas. Keeping the problem in mind as well as the information gained during the research and brainstorming stages, a prototype is designed to meet these requirements and see if your solution might work without building the actual thing. A prototype is a model of the intended solution that is used by designers to test their ideas before a final product is built.   (Example: build a scale model of the contraption out of inexpensive materials or make a blueprint or drawing.)

Planning (30 minutes) 10 minutes to research on the computer 2 minutes: SILENT drawing 8 minutes: Each member shares ideas Use Scientific Communication Skills Show Active Listening Share Your Thinking Disagree Respectfully Ask Clarifying Questions 10 minutes: Plan as a group

4 Important Parts of Communicating Like a Scientist

CREATE: TEST PROTOTYPE The prototype developed in the previous stage is designed to test and try solutions. Testing the prototype is a very important part of the design process because it confirms that the solution will work as it is supposed to, or if it needs refinement.  This gives the design team a chance to gauge and assess the feasibility of the design. Testing also helps identify potential faults, which in turn allows the designer to make improvements. (Example: Build your model, place marshmallow on your model to see how to responds to real life situations. Does it stand by itself? Is the food off the ground?)

Develop Innovative Solutions 30 minutes to build. If you finish early, you will have to wait!!! Which groups were most successful??? Describe how you went about solving the problem.

The Engineering Design Process

IMPROVE: REDESIGN Because the Design Loop can be iterative, meaning repeated, this step of the loop allows for changes to the solution or prototype based on the testing. Sometimes this will require new brainstorming or research, a new way to test the prototype, or even a new approach to the prototype’s design. (Example: Redesign your contraption to accommodate more weight as needed, make tower higher or tower more sturdy.)