Lesson Plan 1 - The Design Process
Day 1. Without any formal instruction on design process, students will be broken into groups of 3, given 20 spaghetti sticks, 1 meter of masking tape, 1 meter of string and a marshmallow. The groups will be directed to compete with one another to build the tallest spaghetti structure that supports the marshmallow at its apex.
The models will be photographed and heights will be recorded on the blackboard. The winning team will be given a small token.
Day 2. The challenge will be repeated with a more substantial reward offered. The models will be photographed and heights will be recorded on the blackboard.
At the conclusion of day 2, students will be asked to analyze the structures and results of the two days (collectively and individually). The expectation is that overall heights will be collectively higher owing to the structure being a second iteration and the learning curve associated with the design challenge. The analysis of the outcomes of the marshmallow challenge provides a suitable starting point for students to consider and refine their understanding of the design process.
Lesson Plan 2 – Design Thinking
Students will watch "Tim Brown urges designers to think big" by Tim Brown on Ted.com,
Recorded at TEDGlobal, July 2009, Oxford, UK.Duration: 16:50
. In this lesson students will watch this Ted Talk and relate their experiences designing and building their marshmallow towers in the previous lesson. Student will discuss their process and relate it to Mr. Brown's concept of "design thinking." It is said that necessity is the mother of invention. Students will be asked to explore this idea and relate it to their experiences in the first few days of this unit.
Lesson Plan 3 – Floor Plans
Students will learn how to draw a simple layout of a building using a bubble diagram. This kind of diagram does not show the size and shape of a room, only how rooms are connected throughout a structure.
Next, students will draw a floor plan of the first floor of New Haven Academy. Everything should be the right size and shape, and in precisely the same location as the actual building. Students will then review their work, compare it to a professionally drawn floor plan and critique their work.
Students will then draw a floor plan of the second floor of New Haven Academy. Everything should be the right size and shape, and in precisely the same location as the actual building. Students will then review their work, compare it to a professionally drawn floor plan and critique their work.
Students will then draw a floor plan of the third floor of New Haven Academy. Everything should be the right size and shape, and in precisely the same location as the actual building. Students will then review their work, compare it to a professionally drawn floor plan and critique their work. Students who achieve mastery of the floor plan will move forward to the next assignment: Section and Elevation.
Lesson Plan 4 – Plan, Section and Elevation
Students will practice drawing plans, which are views from above by drawing a bell pepper from above. Students will then cut the pepper horizontally and remove the top sections so that the inside of the pepper is revealed. Students will sketch what they see.
Students will practice drawing an elevation of another bell pepper. This looks at one side of the pepper from the outside. Students will sketch what they see. Students will then slice this pepper vertically and remove the side to reveal a "cut away" view and sketch this as well.
Students will then make a section drawing of an object found in the classroom.
Students will take a walk around the school building (inside and out) and discuss drawing a section of it and what they would see if they could perform a cutaway.
Students will draw a section of the school building based on the discussions and label their drawings appropriately.
Students will draw a section of their home for homework.
Lesson Plan 5 – Communciation Skills
Students will begin to develop their communication skills by critiquing and practicing a number of essential communication activities. Students will critique student presentations (redacted) and discuss improvement strategies
Students will begin to practice getting up in front of a group. The topics will be "light" as the purpose of these lessons is to gain confidence speaking to an audience. Presentation topics will be assigned to students randomly and will be limited to sixty seconds. Points will be deducted for students falling short of this time frame by ten or more seconds or by exceeding this time limit by ten or more seconds.
Presentations should be educational, tell a story and be unique.
Presentation topics will be created by the teacher and assigned randomly. Topics might include:
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- Favorite sport
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- Favorite form of entertainment
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- Best day of the week
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- Interesting dream
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- Favorite local eatery
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- Favorite course
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- Best school project assignment
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- Students Goals
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- Student Dreams
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- Student Ambitions
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- Important role model
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- Best year
Lesson Plan 6 – Writing
Students will be given a number of previously completed student writing assignments, read and discuss improvements in small group settings. Some writing assignments will be a short thesis while others will be actual student emails.
Lesson Plan 8 – Technical Writing Skills
Writing in technical language is a somewhat unique skill. Students will practice technical writing skills by examining student lab report abstracts for points such as:
1. clarity
2. formatting (mechanical specifications) such as font size and line spacing
3. term definition
4. use of past tense verbs
5. distinction between facts and inferences
6. flow
Students will work together in groups and edit and rewrite these works in order to improve them.
Lesson Plan 7 – Email Ettiquette
Students will learn how to properly compose a professional email. Students will compose emails to one another, correctly address the recipient, have an appropriate professional subject line and include a proper closing and signature line.
Lesson Plan 8 – Presentation Software
Students will learn how to design and conduct a simple presentation using PowerPoint (or other suitable presentation software). Students will create a presentation on a program like PowerPoint from the topic they were assigned in Lesson Plan 5 – Communciation Skills and present it again to the class using a projector and computer.
Presentations will be limited to ninety seconds. Points will be deducted for students falling short of this time frame by fifteen or more seconds or by exceeding this time limit by fifteen or more seconds.
Presentations should be educational, tell a story and be unique.