Gravity Design Brief

The Gravity Design Brief

Time Frame: 4 weeks

Overview

Students are going to be working in an Engineering Design team to create a car using K’Nex pieces. They will work through 3 iterations of design in a goal to have their car travel 600 CM. They will use a ramp (defined in the lesson) to have their car gain momentum. They will also create a 3D Printed wheel to be attached to their design and determine if this has improved their design.

●      Teacher/Student Guide

●      Linkis to 3D Design Videos

●      Project Rubric

Stage 1 - Desired Results

Big Idea(s)

  1. Interactions between any two objects can cause any changes in one or both of them.


PA Core Standards / Next Generation Science Standards

T & E Education

Science Education

Mathematics Education

Computer Science

CEW

CC.3.6.4.C

 

CC.3.2.7.B

CC..2.7.D

 

CC.2.1.6.E.4

 

2-DA-08

13.3.8.C

 


Essential Questions

●      Can you design a car with KNex pieces to travel a distance utilizing gravity.

●      Can you 3D design a wheel to allow a car to travel farther than a rubber wheel.

 

Students Will Know

Students Will Be Doing

●      Content specific vocab

○      Hybrid Car

○      Fuel

○      Average

○      Gravity

○      Radius

○      Negative Space

○      Grouping Shapes

 

●      Engineering design process

○      Define the Problem

○      Do Background Research

○      Specify Requirements

○      Brainstorm Solutions

○      Choose the Best Solution

○      Do Development Work

○      Build a Prototype

○      Test and Redesign

 

●      Researching Alternative Fuel Cars

●      Creating Diagrams of Cars

●      Building Cars with K’Nex Pieces

●      Recording Data based on trials

●      Making iterations on car design to improve the distance traveled

●      Using data to create graphs

●      Designing a tire using 3D Software

●      Testing the car with the 3D printing wheels

Stage 2 - Evidence of Understanding

Assessments (Formative and Summative):

Performance Task(s)

●      Informal Formative Assessments throughout unit through classroom observations

●      Formal assessments on:

○      Rubric for final project

●      The students will create a car for testing.

●      The students will design and print a wheel using 3D Printers.

Stage 3 - Lesson Learning Targets

Learning Activities:

Learning targets are written from the students perspective.

I can…

-        Identify different types of Hybrid cars

-        Describe the design of a car that will work with gravity

-        Design a wheel using 3D Software

 

These should lead up to answering the Essential Question(s).

●      Identify the steps of the design process.

●      Solve a real-world problem by applying the design process.

●      Identify a solution by using a decision matrix.

●      Create sketches/drawings of my ideas

●      Determine the Speed of their car.

●      Determine Acceleration

 


RESOURCES / LINKS

 

Activities

Presentations

Assessments

●      Gravity Design Brief

●      3D Designing for Good

●      3D Printed Food

●      3D Printed Home

●      3D Printed Sneakers

●      3D Printed Tires 1

●      3D Printed Tires 2

●      Gravity Car Rubric

 


Resources


Download: STEAM_KNex_Challenge_Research_Form.docx


Download: The_Gravity_Design.docx


Teaching Strategies


StartSOLE

StartSOLE is a simple inquiry-based approach that can be implemented in a single class period with minimal constraints and serves as an excellent addition or supplement to this lesson.  If you'd like to use one of these suggested questions to encourage students to dig deeper or help prepare them for this activity click on a link below to setup your StartSOLE lesson:

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