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Challenge
1:
Design of Skimmer Boat
Suggested Grade Level: 4
Suggested Length: 3 weeks
Description:
The Design Experience Challenge 1 consists of three
challenges suitable for grades 4-6. Each of these challenges can
be taught over a three-week period or, with suggested extensions,
over a longer period.
Skimmer Challenge (Grade 4)
Students make paper sailboats that are propelled by fans across
the floor. They test the effect of different sail shapes, sizes,
and construction methods on the performance of their skimmers. The
goal of this challenge is to design a set of skimmers that reliably
meet specific performance criteria. Friction, forces, and the effect
of surface area are some of the physical phenomena students encounter
in this challenge.
As students strive to optimize the performance of their toy vehicle,
they express their ideas, test their hypotheses, and draw their
own conclusions based on the evidence they gather. In this way,
their experience resembles the work of scientists and engineers.
The science notes that accompany each challenge describe concepts
associated with the performance of the vehicles the students design
and build.
Engineering
Design Experience
A unique feature of this program is the use of a problem-solving
process employed by engineers in design teams and taught at many
engineering schools across the country. The "Engineering Design
Experience" provides a problem-solving context in which students
design a product or devise a solution to a problem. Teams of three
students examine what must be accomplished and who the product is
for; gather and synthesize information; design, develop, and test
a prototype design; and prepare a presentation of their design ideas.
The Engineering Design Experience consists of five phases:
- Set
Goals
- Build
Knowledge
- Design
- Build
and Test
- Present
Curriculum
Content
The Engineering Design Experience is an applied problem-solving
process, which enables students to see how the field of engineering
integrates knowledge and skills from science, mathematics, and technology.
In using this process, the design challenge provides the contexts
in which students can apply content and concepts from their previous
learning experiences.
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Teacher's
Manual
Education
Standards
The challenge embraces the direction of national and state standards
in science and mathematics education. This program conforms specifically
with both the National Research
Council standards to promote the education of students to develop
products and solutions to problems using technological design, and
the National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics standards that emphasize teaching students to
see mathematical connections to the real-world through mathematical
thinking, modeling, and problem solving. In addition, this program
correlates with the Texas
Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) criteria in science, mathematics,
and technology.
Challenge 1- Skimmer Materials
Components consist of a teacher's kit and classroom materials.
Teacher's kit contains
- Teacher's
manual
- Videos
- Posters
- Re-order
information
A
set of classroom materials (enough for 27 students) contains
- 3
electric fans
- 50
skimmer hull patterns (printed poster board)
- 1
package of 100 3x5 index cards
- 1
box of 100 large paper clips
- 1
box of 100 drinking straws
A
World in Motion is a product of the Society
of Automotive Engineers Foundation.
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