Lesson 1: Project Introduction and Brainstorming

Introduction:

Students form their design teams, receive an introductory document outlining the project expectations, and also have time to brainstorm their ideas. That night, students complete an activity in which they think about how riding a roller coaster relates to their prior knowledge of motion and forces.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will understand the project goals and expectations
• Students will use their prior knowledge and experiences to brainstorm ideas for an “enjoyable” roller coaster

Classroom Time Required:

• Approximately 50 minutes

Materials Needed:

• Introductory handout for each student
• Description of group roles for each student design team
• Team Contract Handout for each design team
• Design Consideration handout for each student
• Access to an online Blog or Wiki (www.blogger.com provides free blog creation and participation). The blog serves both as a way of communicating with the engineering teams (assuming you are collaborating with engineering students) and as an information resource for all students in the same class.

Pre-activities/Prior Knowledge:

Coming into the project, students should have a conceptual understanding of accelerated motion in at least 1-dimension and forces/Newton’s laws. Ideally, students will also have experience working with each other in groups. Typically, the more comfortable students are working in groups, the more productive they are during the project.

The teacher should split the class up into groups of approximately four students, each group constituting a “design team.” She should also prepare a blog entry for students to complete before the second lesson.

Activities:

• Split the class up into design teams of approximately four students each
• Distribute (or have students access online) and discuss the introductory document with the class.
• Discuss the “group roles” document with the class and assign group roles for this week. These roles alternate each week, so that students have exposure completing different tasks within the group.
• Give each team time to complete the Team Contract handout. This contract outlines, in detail, rules to which each team member must adhere. This process gives students the opportunity to think about how they need to act in the group setting. It’s also a nice document to have on hand in the event that a particular team or team-member gets too far off-task. When finished with the contract, give student teams an opportunity to brainstorm, sketch, and think about their roller coaster design.
• For homework, each student needs to complete the “design consideration” handout. In addition to providing students more opportunity to brainstorm, this handout lays the groundwork for a discussion during lesson 2.
• In addition to the design consideration handout, one team member needs to complete a blog entry outlining her thoughts on what makes a roller coaster enjoyable. During the project, each group member will complete at least one blog post.

Modifications/Author Comments:

• The introductory document references communication/collaboration with engineering students at Southern High school. While this collaboration adds authenticity to the project, it is not essential (if you do not have access to a class of engineering students).
• If students have access to computers or laptops in class, you can place the four handouts directly on a website either in place of or in addition to making hard copies.
• Assigning roles can be as simple as stating that “the youngest group member is this week’s leader,” or “the person with the most siblings is this week’s reflector/summarizer.”
• If students are well-versed in group work, the contract may not be necessary. Use your own judgment to determine whether this contract would help provide structure to students.
• Assuming you are using a blog, set it up so that you can moderate comments before they appear on the site. This allows you to monitor the appropriateness of those comments and also control when the comments appear (if a team’s design is due Tuesday at 9, you can post that design at 9:01, preventing other teams from seeing that design before theirs is due).
• The introductory document includes a grading rubric for the project’s final presentation. You could either use this rubric, or come up with a rubric together as a class.

Supplemental Files: 

Lesson 01_01_Introductory Document.doc

Lesson 01_02_Group_Role_Descriptions.doc

Lesson 01_03_Team Contract.doc

Lesson 01_04_Design Considerations Handout.doc

Lesson 01_04_Design Considerations Handout.rtf