Engineering Design Process Loop

All classes, except for Kindergarten, have now gone through lessons explaining the Engineering Design Process of Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. Beginning this past week, all classes first through fifth grade will start a basic hands-on challenge helping them to deeper understand the Engineering Design Process concept. They have all had it explained to them, and have all been able to name the steps involved, but they need to be able to physically go through the process before such a concept begins to make sense to them. They will begin working in groups of four (or five, at the most) taking a simple item such as a straw, craft stick, or a spoon and designing a new item that is useful out of it. This week they were guided through the process of identifying the problem, and brainstorming (as a group) ideas of other uses for their selected item. Next week they will begin narrowing their list of ideas and choosing the best idea, then blueprinting their design and listing the materials needed to create their new item design. Some students are also learning other concepts along with the Engineering Design Process, such as working as part of a team, and that all students have value (or all ideas have value). This loop will carry them through the next couple of weeks. After this, we will begin our Simple Machines unit.

 Kindergarten is still exploring the Fall season, learning about how scientists make careful observations, using magnifying glasses, identifying and writing about different textures, and learning about realistic colors found in nature (coloring things as we really see them, as they really are, and not how we would like them colored with shades of blues, pinks, and purples). The students have also been learning about how life carries on as they have been finding pine cones and prickly seed pods of maple trees. They have seen how the seed pod exterior dries and opens to release hundreds of tiny maple tree seeds (usually all over our tables), and while using the magnifying glasses, been able to see their rougher shapes. They have been enjoying spending a few minutes of each lesson outside in the cooler fall air and finding colorful fall leaves and seed pods. As a teacher, I always enjoying watching their wonder and excitement as they explore the beauty in the fall colors.

BRE celebrates TSA Week

Today officially kicks off National TSA Week (Oct. 3rd - Oct. 7th). For those new to TSA, Technology Student Association, TSA is a national Career and Technical Student Organization that focuses on advancing and improving student achievement in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). It is dedicated to serving middle and high school students in 47 states, with a few fifth grade clubs around the country. TSA fosters personal growth, leadership, and opportunities in technology, innovation, design, and engineering through spirited competitions at District, State, and National levels. Students learn through hands-on projects that teach them about engineering design, team work, computer & technology skills, parliamentary procedures, problem-solving, robotics, and many more STEM skills that they can take with them into college and careers in their future. Manatee County schools have a commanding presence at both State and National levels. (Let the results speak for themselves, check out the results from the 2011 National TSA Conference.) There are currently six elementary schools in Manatee County with fifth grade TSA clubs. Braden River Elementary is proud to be counted among the six.

As part of the kick-off to National TSA Week, our chapter of TSA welcomed Mr. Jon Edwards, an electrical engineer working with Smith Seckman Reid, Inc., and one of our BRE parents, to share part of what he does as an electrical engineer with us. He showed us some of the blueprints of one of the projects he is currently involved with, and talked to us about the importance of teamwork. For most of the students, it was the first time they had seen a set of blueprints so close up. He pointed out some of the areas where the engineers and architects had to make changes to the design to fit the electrical needs of the room, indicating the inserts in cloud-like bubbles, and talked to the students about how the engineers were able to use computers to make and print out the blueprints.

The students now have a better understanding of the design and technology that goes into the making of blueprints, thanks to Mr. Edwards.

After that, the students worked on designing posters to celebrate National TSA Week, as well as to advertise and draw in more attention to their club. Look for their posters posted around the school this week.

National TSA Week concludes with a CTSO (Career and Technology Student Organization) Rally on Saturday morning for middle and high school students at Braden River High School. Elementary school advisors will be on hand at the rally to discuss the possibilities of our elementary students attending this rally for next year. Among the festivities at the annual rally are the spirited club specific canned food drive, and spirit stick contests at each level.

For more information about TSA, check out the national TSA site: http://www.tsaweb.org/ and Florida's TSA site: http://www.floridatsa.com/, or check out BRE's own TSA page.

Spotlight on STEM

It is the sixth week of school and our STEM classes have all gotten under way. The students have been learning a lot of background information about engineering, technology, and what engineers (in general) do. Almost every student now has their own STEM science journal. We use these in each class to write down keywords, vocabulary and definitions, processes, blueprints and diagrams, and reflections. The students are all becoming acclimated to a more scientific style of writing over the more creative style of writing they have become used to in their language arts times. This is a more direct and specific style of writing based on observations.

Kindergarten students while practicing their headings with the date at the top of each entry have been working on going through a modified engineering design process as they take a page from Dr. Seuss and have been designing their own version of the Cat in the Hat's moss-covered, three-handled family gredunza (cleaning machine). Some of them are quite ingenious with separate compartments for soap, window cleaner, paper towels, hoses, and ice-cream cones (for when they are finished cleaning).

First, second, and third grade students have been concentrating on the engineering design process using the Manatee County Design Process model for elementary students: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. They are learning that engineers are problem solvers, and need to identify the problem they are trying to solve first, before brainstorming solution ideas.

Meanwhile, fourth and fifth grade students have been learning about problem solving as they have been working in teams trying to devise a plan to escape an island in which they have been shipwrecked on with only one precious item each. Many of the items the students wanted included video game consoles, iPods, computers, televisions, beds, books, and their families, including family pets. They are learning to work together and realizing its not as easy to text their way to help without any electricity, cell phone towers or internet connections.

Finally, today marks the kick-off of our Technology Student Association (TSA) enrichment club. This is the school's second year for a TSA team, and our hopefully, our first full year of a year round club dedicated to the enrichment and extension of technology, science, mathematics, and engineering skills. A couple of our planned competitions for the year is the catapult competition at TSA Districts in December, and a Water Tower competition for 5th grade elementary students in April. Other competitions are in the works, but not confirmed for the moment.

Simple Machines Game

I've found a new favorite game - it's called "Simple Machines" and it's from The Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago.

 

This is a wonderful game for introducing or reviewing simple machines with students. It's night time at the Museum of Science and Industry, and there is work for Twitch to do. But Twitch doesn't like work and tries to find the easiest way of getting things done. Students will have to help Twitch select the simplest ways to complete his tasks in collecting the items he needs. The game takes them through 4 simple machines - inclined plane, pulleys, levers, and wheels. Students are given a choice and must select the item that will make a simple machine which requires the least amount of force to get Twitch across the obstacle to his desired item.

I really like how the game uses pictures of real items that can be used as simple machines, and then draws an outline of how they will look as the machine when you hover over each item. I also like the way the game explains each of the machines and what is needed to exert the least amount of force in each of the situations. After the task is completed, the game also gives examples of each of the simple machines. If the student makes a mistake in the selection of the item, it allows the student to continue and shows the student the amount of force that is being exerted to move an item, or Twitch. The game will also explain why the item was not a good choice, after the failed attempt, that is. And, it allows the student to try again.

At the end of the game, it shows the total amount of force Twitch had to exert through the whole game. Any force left over is totaled and points are given based on the amount of force that is left over after all tasks have been completed. Then there is a little fanfare celebration, which is sort of fun and cheerful.

Unlike some of the other interactive science games on the web, I feel this game does an excellent job of allowing the students to learn about some of the rules of physics and engineering by doing, and performing everyday tasks. The characters in the game are computer generated; however, the rest of the items and backdrops in the game are photos of real items. This is another cool feature to the game as it allows students to really visualize how things work in the real world. They are also able to identify real objects within the game. (I spotted an Einstein Action Figure doll in the game just like the one I have sitting on my desk at school!) Besides the Einstein figurine, there are many technical items in the game such as a volt meter that Twitch must lift to get to the desire object on the other side.

Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago - Simple Machines Game

http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/Activities/Games/simple_machines/

Girls STEM Camp Video

Video from "STEM Camp 2011" at Normandale "Engineering is Science and Math and Creativity Too" of girls building hovercrafts. How cool is that?!


Mind you, this is not from our area, and does not involve our students - but with USF's Girls STEM Summits in May every year, this could happen. :)

Inspiring Elementary Engineering

You may be reading this today thinking there is something different about this blog. Very subtle changes, mind you, but big changes in store for this coming school year. You may have noticed the name has changed. That's right, the name is changing from Engineering by Design to Inspiring Elementary Engineering. We want to inspire elementary students to think-outside-the-box, and problem solve like so many engineers in the field often have to do on a daily basis. Along with the name change, I've changed the logo and banner a little. This is not the "official" logo for our District's Inspiring Elementary Engineering course that is being taught in some elementary schools throughout the district this coming school year; however, while I wait for the official design to be created and circulated, I came up with my own design using Photoshop CS5's 3D tools.

I also thought it was only right to change the name in the address to this blog, just slightly, to reflect the new class. Traditionally "EBD" has another acronym meaning used in ESE (special ed) classes. While we were trying to get away from this meaning, I thought we should stress the Engineering factor of the class. Since I will be teaching this course at Braden River Elementary, I added the BRE part to the address link.

I've also made a few changes to the left sidebar by adding links for teachers, and students, and included a news feeder to Discovery Science. It is my goal to not only make this a place for parents to read about their students' progress in my elementary engineering class, but to also make this a resource site for other engineering, especially elementary engineering teachers, and a fun site for students to visit and learn more about what goes into design and engineering. Please bookmark this page and visit it often throughout the year for updates in our engineering process as well as other reference information in STEM education (Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math).

Mini-Catapults, part 2: Marshmallow-flinging showdown

Today was our final Engineering club meeting for the year. But excitement filled the air as our young engineers arrived eager the finish their catapults and start flinging marshmallows. We were equipped, today, with more Gorilla tape, a few designer rolls of duct tape (plaid and tie-dyed), and the ever-important hot glue gun, to help complete our miniature catapults.

Some groups finished early giving them extra time to practice their aim and trajectory using miniature pom-poms. Other groups really needed all of the allotted time to perfect their machines using the hot-glue-gun and duct tape. The teams were aware that they would be competing in two different categories: distance, and accuracy, using the district competition rules that some already discovered earlier this year. A target (and different colored mini-pompoms for each team) would be used to determine accuracy.

Finally the time came for the battle of the marshmallow flinging machines. The students all gathered around the double doors to the Media Center in the hallway with their miniature catapults to put their design skills to the test. Each team was allowed five launches, each for distance, and for accuracy. Marshmallows were launched first. The Victorians were victorious in the first round, with Team Science and Technology following up behind them.

Engineering by Design teams gathered for the final showdown
of engineering design wit and skill

Next up was the Accuracy Round. A target was placed 15 feet in front of the launch line (doorway entrance) - if the team's pompom landed anywhere on the target they received 5 points. The winners from the first round were able to launch first. Each team received 6 miniature pompoms, with each team receiving a different color.

Team Science and Technology won the accuracy round with 15 points, while The Engineers placed second with 10 points. All teams enjoyed a handful of miniature marshmallows for their efforts.

Black Ops Bros. practicing with pompoms	The Victorians practicing their accuracy before- hand were firing shot after shot off in the same area.
Science and Technology Team posing with their mini-catapult.	The Engineers trying to work out last minute details to their design.
With a couple members of Leonardo's Assistants already competing earlier in the year with TSA, they decided to try their luck with a similar design they used in TSA, mainly, no stopper bar allowing their beam, or spoon in this case, to continually spin around in its torsion.	The Victorians design included an inclined base rather than a flat base. They thought this would give them an edge in distance firing.
Team Science & Technology prepares to launch a pompom going for accuracy.	The Black Ops Bros. demonstrate that you can create a catapult out of just about anything as they use a small wooden crate for their base and sides.
The Engineers work as as team as Sara holds the posts apart at the top, while Lily releases the spoon to fling their marshmallow down the hall.	Leonardo's Assistants preparing the launch their pompoms for accuracy the trials.
Team Black Ops firing another pompom at the target.	The Victorians trying their hand at accuracy with their catapult.
Leonardo's Assistants shooting pompoms at the target for accuracy.	The Engineers taking aim for accuracy.
Team Science and Technology members, Nicolas, Max, and Tucker fire a blue pompom at the target.