UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems A COLLECTION OF ELEMENTARY STEM DESIGN CHALLENGES BASED CHILDREN’S LITERATURE [2013 Edition – A Continual Work In Progress] UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems Table of Contents The Design Loop 3 Can Your Billy Goat Survive the Troll? by Jordan Stevens 5 Building a Castle Tara Hice 11 Can a Hot Air Balloon be like a Tortoise? Lisa Baker 17 Dogzilla: Dog Bone Slinger Challenge Gracie Gandy 34 Will Humpty Go Splat or Will He Last? Janis Harju 39 Franklin is Lost Nicole Chaote 44 Chain Reaction Kelly McCracken 48 The Big Orange Splot Rachel Whitmore 52 Helping the Monkeys Stay Afloat Sarah Bart 58 Structurally Sound Houses: Building Houses that Can Withstand External Elements Lindsey Swagerty 64 Developing ‘Teacher-Made’ STEM Design Challenges 69 UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems THE DESIGN LOOP The design loop is a guide that helps make STEM design problems a more effective learning tool for students. It is a structure for thinking and doing—the essence of design and problem solving. Designing is not a linear process. When you design and make something, you do not think and act in separate, sequential steps.
Rather, you complete activities that logically lead to additional activities--sometimes they occur in the order outlined below and sometimes they occur more randomly, but in almost all cases all of the activities outlined below occur during the engineering design process. It is a good teaching tool to require students to document their passage through all phases of engineering design. Below is an illustration and description of each phase of the design loop. What is the problem? Identifying Problems and Opportunities: Central to the process of designing is the identification of a problem in need of a solution.
On the surface, this appears to be a simple task, but it requires careful observation and a critical eye. The student designer will attempt to clarify, understand the specifications, and detail exactly what it is that they intend to do. At this point, the student begins to ask a number of questions (i., What are my limits? How much time do I have? To what materials do I have access?). UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems 2.
Brainstorming Solutions In order to solve problems, all pertinent information must be gathered and documented for possible future reference. The importance of investigation and research cannot be overemphasized. Few solutions are new. Most new inventions involve many previously known principles and concepts.
Generating a number of alternative solutions is one of the most important steps and often the most difficult to do. Although it seems to be human nature to latch on to your first idea and try and make it work. More ideas equal better solutions. Techniques: Brainstorming, sketching, doodling, attribute listing, and forced connection.
Choosing Your Solution: Choosing the best among a number of ideas is less straightforward than it may appear. Two strategies: (1) Listing the attributes (good and bad points) of the ideas and comparing them; and (2) Developing a decision matrix that compares attributes to design criteria. The evaluation process may indicate a way to combine features of several solutions into an optimum solution. The student designer begins working on the myriad of sub-problems that need solutions.
This involves modeling, experimentation with different materials, and fastening techniques, shapes, and other things that need to be done before actual construction of the final design is undertaken. At this point the student designer begins to develop models and prototypes that represent their idea. Two-dimensional and Three-dimensional models, computer models, and mathematical models are commonly used. Test Your Solution This may be as simple as applying the specifications to the end product to see if it does all the things that it is supposed to do.
Evaluate Your Solution - Re-designing and Improving: This step involves performance testing, as in the case of a practical device. After evaluating the design, student designers begin implementing what they have learned from the evaluation—an effort to improve the product. Present Your Solution All design problems should end with a culminating event. This could be a formal presentation of the production of the product or system.
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems Problem: Once upon a time there were 3 billy goats. They ate the grass in the valley until it was all gone and they were hungry. The 3 billy goats knew that on the other side of the creek there was another meadow full of grass. There was only one problem, they had to cross a bridge to get to the other side and the evil troll lived under that bridge.
The troll was hungry, too. The billy goats really need to get to the other side, but they cannot cross over the troll’s bridge. Challenge: You decide to help the billy goats reach the opposite side of the creek so they can eat. You must create a model structure to help the billy goats get from one side to the other, while using the design loop and only the materials provided.
Your teacher will also provide you with model billy goats, with specific weights, that your bridge must be able to withstand. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems Criteria: Your Bride should be able to withstand the weights: 10 pounds, 12 pounds, and 15 pounds Your bridge should be at least 11 inches wide and allow the billy goats to cross a ravine of 6 inches deep Materials Market: pipe cleaners modeling clay craft sticks foam wedges hot glue construction paper string Q-tips *GOAL: A bridge that can withstand the most weight, weighs the least, and has the best physical appearance Think About It: Research strong bridges and think about what makes them strong? Think about which materials would be the best solutions for your bridge design and try to use the least amount of materials as possible because your instructor may put a limit to the amount of items you can use. Use the spaces below to record your ideas and show them to your teacher before going to the market. (Be sure to label the materials you will need for your bridge in each of your ideas) UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems Surviving the Troll Build the Billy Goats a Bridge Teachers: This project will teach students that building a sturdy bridge takes more than material.
You have to consider your resources, the length, the weight, and the type of bridge needed. Disciplinary Area: STEM Unit: Structures, angles, force Standards Common Core Math Standards (Geometry): Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale. Standards for Technological Literacy: Develop the abilities to apply the design process ELA Common Core Standards (writing): Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or expectations defined in the text “Big Ideas” Learning to use creativity for problem solving Learning to use the concepts of the design loop Technology is key in constructing the bridge Learning that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics all play an important role in developing the bridge Tools and techniques Essential Question: Can you design a structure to get the 3 Billy goats from one side of the creek to the other (11 inches wide and 6 inches deep), without crossing the troll, and withstanding their body weight (10 pounds, 12 pounds, and 15 pounds)? Scenario: Once upon a time there were 3 billy goats. They ate the grass in the valley until it was all gone and they were hungry.
The 3 billy goats knew that on the other side of the creek there was another meadow with lots of lushes grass. There was only one problem. They had to cross a bridge to get to the other side and the troll lived under that bridge. The troll was hungry, too.
The billy goats really need to get to the other side so they can eat, but they cannot cross over the troll’s bridge. You decided to create a model structure to help the billy goats cross the creek so that they can eat. You can only use the materials provided and it will need to be able to UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems withstand the billy goats body weight. The creek is 11 inches wide and the ravine is 6 inches deep.
Materials and Resources (You can allow students to work in teams to introduce cooperative learning or work alone) 1. Q- tips Teachers: You can also change the projects difficulty level by assigning credits to the materials and only allowing them a select amount of credits to spend. By doing this you are making them think about the resources they may need before diving in. They will need to be sure their designs are accurate and precise, or they may not get the right materials with their credits.
Content: A bridge is a structure designed to help us transport from one side of land to another, whether that be over water, mountains, or rough terrain. Bridges are very important in our lives today and have been for many years. Most bridges are made from steel and iron, and use cables for support. Bridges are made to withstand certain amounts of weight at any one time and if they are not used properly, transporting more weight than the bridge can allow, can cause them to break.
Angles, structure-to-weight ratio, and design are all very important factors when building a bridge. The greatest bridge builders were the ancient Romans. The Romans built arch bridges and aqueducts that could stand in conditions that would damage or destroy earlier designs. They were made from heavy wedge shaped rock.
Some still stand today. Bridges went from being constructed of limestone, water, wood, sand, and volcanic rock to steel, iron, and cables. Stefan Bryla made the first welded bridge in 1927. There are many different types of bridges, but each bridge has a specific use.
Beam bridges are flat and use piers for support. Arch bridges are very strong and look like half circles. The longest bridges in the world are suspension bridges and use foundations for support. Think about the weight you will be transporting across your bridge to determine which design you should use.
Source: http://library.org/CR0210346/history.html UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS COLLECTION OF STEM DESIGN A Collection CHALLENGES of Engineering Design Problems Teachers: Allow the students to do some research on bridges. There are many different types of bridges and they will need to consider their resources and weight before designing their own. It would be nice to do a short presentation on bridges and how angles and design are very important. Deliverables: Using only the materials supplied by you, your student or team of students must build a scale model bridge that can withstand the weight of the billy goats.
The smallest billy goat will weigh 10 pounds, the middle will weigh 12 pounds, and the heaviest will be 15 pounds. Your bridge will need to withstand the weight of each individual billy goat and to add a little more competition you can keep adding weight to see which can withstand the most.