Grades K-1: Taking the Plunge: Designing Submersibles
To study the ocean, scientists and engineers use submersibles—small, remote-controlled underwater vessels. Introduce students to the field of ocean engineering as they explore real world problem solving by thinking like an ocean engineer. In the storybook Despina Makes a Splash, students are exposed to new cultures as they follow along with a girl in Greece, who designs a submersible to retrieve lost diving goggles. Students learn about sounding poles and sonar as they map a section of ocean floor. They apply their knowledge of density, floating, and sinking to design their own submersible, equip it with research instruments, and retrieve packages from a model ocean floor.
Grades 2-3: No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces
Want to learn to think like a biomedical engineer and apply the engineering design process to the fields of biology or medicine to solve healthcare problems? Get ready for student-centered activities that make biomedical engineering accessible. The storybook Erik’s Unexpected Twist provides a framework for biomedical engineering with the exciting story of a rescue mission where engineering saves the day for a boy with an injured knee. Students explore the variations in human feet and use the information to make recommendations about sneaker design. Using relevant, real world skills they learn to measure the range of motion in knees as they investigate how a knee joint works. After evaluating the properties of different building materials, they design a knee brace that will restore the range of motion to a model of an injured knee.
Grades 4-6: Can You Get to the Other Side? Designing Bridges
When civil engineers design bridges, they must account for factors like balance and motion. Students learn the principles behind bridge design with the storybook Javier Builds a Bridge. In it, Javier needs a safe footbridge to get to his island play fort. Students will reinforce their understanding of “push” and “pull” as they explore how forces act on different structures using real-world, relevant examples. They’ll use what they know about balance and force as they experiment with beam, arch, and suspension bridges—and learn how bridge designs counteract and redirect forces and motion. In the final design challenge, students apply everything they have learned to plan, build, and test their own bridges.