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Other Design Tasks
Space and budget do not allow for more than a brief introduction to the growing legion
of design activities that curriculum designers and teachers have proposed and tested in
recent years. Here are some:
- Vehicles
in Motion
In this Learning By Design activity, students investigate,
test and combine propulsion systems for a model car
that must climb 2 test hills and travel as far as
possible beyond them. (LBD™
4-8 weeks)
- Pop-Up
Book Ed
Goldman of Brooklyn Tech designed this unit that introduces
students to paper engineering and has them produce
a book using a number of pop-up book elements for
student-made presentations at a "pop-up book
trade show". (5-9 weeks)
- Model
Quilts Rich
Lehrer (Vanderbilt) describes the kind of math learning that students
were able to achieve when designing quilts using paper
or the computer.
- Clay
Boat See
how students can take a classic scientific investigation
and turn it into a very short design activity. Students
are provided with a given amount of clay, and asked
to create a floatation system that can stay above
water and hold the greatest number of metal washers
as a Load. (1.5-3 days)
- Parade
Float This
activity has UK tech ed students building a wooden
model of a parade float that advertises a student-selected
product and employs a cam in its drivetrain. (Nuffield
Design & Technology 5-10 weeks)
- Warm
Gloves Read and print out an article
from TERC's Hands On! series that describes an activity that has students designing
gloves while studying heat and thermal energy.
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