The reading was about an activity students completed to get them thinking like engineers. They used algebraic thinking to look for patterns and relationships to explore the stretching, compression, and bending of materials and how the size/shape of beams affects their resistance to these forces.
The students were previously experienced in the areas of the experiment. Questions were placed throughout the experiment for students to reflect on their learning and connect it with previously learned material.
Lysbilde: 2
This relates to class as we have been learning about engineering design. This experiment required students to draw on prior knowledge to conduct and determine the best product for each of the 3 experiments to make a final structure. As a team, students created various prototype structures from the information they had gotten in the 3 previous tests. They would tests these structures and gather feedback to then improve and answer a series of questions. This is a wonderful example of engineering design and how it can be used in the science and math classroom!
Lysbilde: 3
This is important for me as a future teacher to see how we can incorporate engineering into our required teaching material (math science). This is a way for me to represent real-life connections to math and science and encourage students to make their own connections and exploring outside the box. Activities like these are also assessment tools.