Sara E. Thomas
This unit will teach students about renewable and nonrenewable sources of energy using boats as a vehicle. I would like students to create their own model of a boat with a simplified steam engine. Students will work as industrial designers: choosing the function of their boat, drawing up blue prints, working through a series of models, determining how to increase efficiency, and finally addressing the aesthetics of the boat as a form. This unit will be appropriate for all students because it accommodates a variety of learning styles, most specifically kinesthetic learning. It will enforce everyday skills such as problem solving, creating and testing a hypothesis, measuring, analyzing data and applying the elements and principles of design.
(Recommended for Art, grades 9-12)
