LESSON 4 (Approximately 4 hours or two 2-hour class periods)
EMPLOYING THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS TO PARABOLIC SOLAR OVENS
Overview
Materials
Table saw Hand sander
Hand saws Blank white paper
Power drills Hot glue gun
Drill press Hammers
Screws Nails
Chisels
Word processing program (e.g., ‘Microsoft Word’)
Reflective materials (e.g., aluminum flashing/foil/tape, mirrored tiles, etc.)
Student and teacher laptops equipped with ‘Rhinoceros’
Community Resources
Parent or community volunteers (e.g., professionals in the field of engineering, construction, and architecture)
Key Words
Parabola | Paraboloid | Engineering Design Process | Solar energy | Iterative design N.A.S.A.’s Beginning Engineering, Science, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) | Ask | Imagine
Plan | Create | Experiment | Improve
1st Construction Day
TEACHING PLAN
Introduction
Please take a moment to welcome our guests today! (Introduce guests by name and their relation to the school) Today we will be working in our design teams (with help from our gracious community volunteers) and begin crafting our first iterations of parabolic solar ovens. Please keep in mind that safety is our number one priority. Right behind that is creativity. Do not hesitate to ask any questions. Some of you have experience using these tools while many of you do not or have very little experience. I am here to help you use tools and resolve building issues as are our expert guests. We look forward to helping you convert your digital renderings into the physical form. To begin, please send your team’s Materials Team Member up. Materials Team Members: Recall that you will be responsible for ensuring safe lab practices and cleaning up equipment and tools during construction today. The rest of you: Please take a moment to review your job description in the document provided to you last class. Thank you!
ASK Questions and discuss as a class (5 minutes)
Task
Wrap Up
Discuss
2nd Construction Day
TEACHING PLAN
Introduction
Welcome to day two of building our parabolic solar ovens! Again, take a moment to thank our outside experts for joining us today! In just a moment, you will begin work on the second iteration of this build project. Before we do that, let’s complete a short individual assignment.
ASK Questions and discuss as a class (5 minutes)
Task
Wrap Up
Discuss
Distribute
Web Resources
Formative Assessments
Summative Assessments
EMPLOYING THE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS TO PARABOLIC SOLAR OVENS
Overview
- Engaging creatively within a student-lead, engineering-driven, and adult-supervised workshop over two class periods
- Completing two iterations of the engineering design process as framed by N.A.S.A.’s Beginning Engineering, Science, and Technology (B.E.S.T.)
- Vetting mathematically- and observations-based construction ideas with outside experts
- Preparing as a team for the second and final in-class opportunity to construct solar ovens
- Teams determining specific, upcoming roles for each member
- Students communicating any new material needs to their teacher
- Engaging in metacognition by assessing strengths and growth areas vis-à-vis individual and group work
Materials
Table saw Hand sander
Hand saws Blank white paper
Power drills Hot glue gun
Drill press Hammers
Screws Nails
Chisels
Word processing program (e.g., ‘Microsoft Word’)
Reflective materials (e.g., aluminum flashing/foil/tape, mirrored tiles, etc.)
Student and teacher laptops equipped with ‘Rhinoceros’
Community Resources
Parent or community volunteers (e.g., professionals in the field of engineering, construction, and architecture)
Key Words
Parabola | Paraboloid | Engineering Design Process | Solar energy | Iterative design N.A.S.A.’s Beginning Engineering, Science, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) | Ask | Imagine
Plan | Create | Experiment | Improve
1st Construction Day
TEACHING PLAN
Introduction
Please take a moment to welcome our guests today! (Introduce guests by name and their relation to the school) Today we will be working in our design teams (with help from our gracious community volunteers) and begin crafting our first iterations of parabolic solar ovens. Please keep in mind that safety is our number one priority. Right behind that is creativity. Do not hesitate to ask any questions. Some of you have experience using these tools while many of you do not or have very little experience. I am here to help you use tools and resolve building issues as are our expert guests. We look forward to helping you convert your digital renderings into the physical form. To begin, please send your team’s Materials Team Member up. Materials Team Members: Recall that you will be responsible for ensuring safe lab practices and cleaning up equipment and tools during construction today. The rest of you: Please take a moment to review your job description in the document provided to you last class. Thank you!
ASK Questions and discuss as a class (5 minutes)
- What are some essential features of a functional, solar energy-focusing parabolic solar oven?
- How might our work from today inform modifications to our initial design?
Task
- Gather in your solar oven design group.
- Review the schematic drawings that the Schematic Team Member drafted for homework. If you need to print these drawings to take to the Innovation Lab, feel free to do so. It may be useful to have the drawings on paper rather that on the computer so the Recorder/Photographer Team Member can take notes. (2 minutes)
- Materials Team Members: Please come up and collect your wishlist of materials (5 minutes)
- Coordinator Team Members: You will be organizing your team collaborations today. Consider how you will best serve your team, make use of our guest experts, and utilize space. (1 minute)
- Recorder/Photographer Team Members: Your work will be essential today. Please carefully record notes and observations today in your portfolio. Your notes will be instrumental in driving reflection and informing our second day of building. Remember: you will ultimately be responsible for documenting the engineering design process within your group and archiving your team project in digital form. (2 minutes)
- Schematic Team Members: Today, you will be responsible for ensuring that the solar oven has been built to the specifications of your drawings. (1 minute)
- Working within your team, drawing upon aid from our guest experts, and with my assistance, it is your time to construct the first iteration of your parabolic solar oven. Consider using blank white paper to assess whether or not you have created a focal point or whether there is a locus of focal points. We will dedicate the last thirty minutes to clean up, brainstorm within teams, and issue some announcements. (70 minutes)
Wrap Up
Discuss
- It looks like everyone is off to a strong start! Please take a moment to clean up your stations. Let’s help our Materials Team Members out. All tools should be returned to their proper drawers, etc. (10 minutes)
- Let’s open up some time and space for your teams to brainstorm potential modifications to your design for your second iteration. In the next fifteen minutes, please chat about how you will modify your parabolic solar ovens next time. Try to be as specific as possible. We will build our second iteration next class. Coordinator Team Members: Please be prepared to share how you and your team justify your proposed design changes. (15 minutes)
- Coordinators Team Members: How did you and your team justify some of the potential design changes you will be making next class? (7 minutes)
- Schematic Team Members: Please submit your three digital renderings now. You may provide either the paper copies you utilized in the Innovation Lab or create screenshots from your laptop and email those to me. (3 minutes)
- Recall that anything you do not complete in class next time may be completed after school this week during my office hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3:00-4:30 pm. Our guests have graciously agreed to join us next class as well! (5 minutes)
- Review homework deliverables due next class: (2 minutes)
- Bullet point improvements your team plans to make next class along with justifications as for why each improvement would be valuable
- Send digital versions to myself and your Coordinator Team Member
- Materials Team Members: Please send an updated wish list of materials to me via email. Again, the total cost of both parabolic solar oven iterations should not exceed $25 unless you will want to pay out-of-pocket
- Bullet point improvements your team plans to make next class along with justifications as for why each improvement would be valuable
2nd Construction Day
TEACHING PLAN
Introduction
Welcome to day two of building our parabolic solar ovens! Again, take a moment to thank our outside experts for joining us today! In just a moment, you will begin work on the second iteration of this build project. Before we do that, let’s complete a short individual assignment.
ASK Questions and discuss as a class (5 minutes)
- On your own, write down, type, or make an audio recording that includes the following:
- A name that accurately captures the spirit and functionality of your first parabolic solar oven.
- Eight to ten adjectives that accurately describe your solar oven to date
Task
- Quickly share those works with your team’s Recorder/Photographer Team Member so they can document your title and adjectives. Afterwards, please submit those individual works either by hand or via email. (7 minutes)
- Materials Team Members: Please come up and collect any secondary materials you requested as part of your homework. (5 minutes)
- Coordinator Team Members: You will be organizing your team collaborations today. Consider how you will best serve your team, make use of our guest experts, and utilize space.
- Schematic Team Members: Again, you will be responsible for ensuring that the solar oven has been built to the specifications of your drawings. (1 minute)
- Recorder/Photographer Team Members: Your job will once again be very important today. Please record careful notes and observations today in your portfolio. Your notes today will be instrumental for the formal critique we will be holding next class. Remember: you will be responsible for documenting the engineering design process within your group and archiving your project in digital form for final submission. (2 minutes)
- Gather in your solar oven design group. (1 minute)
- In a respectful fashion, please share each of your team members’ homework with bullet points outlining suggested improvements and justifications. You will be making several of these changes today so pay close attention. Consider answering these questions as a group:
- Which of these seem most important?
- Which are feasible today?
- Do we still like these new design ideas?
- Have we thought of any other changes to our design? Feel free to add to your homework from last night as you share with one another. (15 minutes)
- The remainder of class will be dedicated to building our second iterations of parabolic solar ovens. ‘Schematics Team Members’: Remember that it will be your responsibility to make sure your parabolic solar oven has been built to the specifications of the drawings. To everyone: Please feel free to seek out help from our guest experts and myself. You have seventy minutes. We will build in time for cleanup and some quick announcements about next class. (70 minutes)
Wrap Up
Discuss
- Materials Team Members: Please facilitate the clean up. (10 minutes)
- Please submit your homework from last night. (2 minutes)
- Coordinator Team Members: Next time, we will be engaging in formal critique. Please take some time tonight to review the ‘formal critique’ protocols available through Harvard’s “Artful Thinking Routines” as familiarity with these will be invaluable to your team members. All of you are encouraged to skim through this document. (3 minutes)
- Anything you did not complete in class today may be completed after school today and tomorrow from 3:00-4:30 pm. Finally, please be sure to bring some food and any device for holding your food at the 'focus' next class. We will be using our solar ovens at the same time as we engage in formal critique! Some foods you might consider include hot dogs, vegetable skewers, rice, marshmallows, hot pockets, etc. I am really looking forward to your solar oven showcase! Keep up the great work! (2 minutes)
Distribute
- Specific building materials requested by each team (capped at $25)
Web Resources
- NASA’s Beginning Engineering, Science, and Technology (B.E.S.T.) home page (http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/best/#.V6fCXJOAOkp)
- NASA’s B.E.S.T. Engineering Design Process (E.D.P.) video series (http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/best/edp.html)
- Artful Thinking Routines (Harvard Project Zero, 2006): http://pzartfulthinking.org/?page_id=2
Formative Assessments
- Teacher notes team commentary regarding suggested improvements for the second design iteration
- Individually written document outlining suggested improvements and their justifications
- Updated materials wish list
- Hand-written, typed, or audio recorded name for solar oven with eight to ten adjectives
- Two iterations of student-designed solar ovens
Summative Assessments
- Digital renderings of proposed solar oven design from three angles: top, perspective, elevation