Lesson Plan: Dog on a Mission

Students will be given the challenge of designing a wearable sensor system to help rescue dogs remain safe, while enabling the dogs to find the victims faster during the mission. Students must consider the physical challenges that the dogs face during their mission and what technologies would help the dog stay safe, as well as what technologies would enable the dog to find survivors faster. Using the design process will be fundamental for the students to solve these design challenges.

Students will conceptualize the design and then design a prototype of the design or a rendering of the product using a 3D modeling software. To make the lesson more realistic, you can invite a volunteer from a search and rescue dog organization to work with the students.  Most states have search and rescue dog organizations and before you begin the lesson contact the organization to see if you can have a volunteer come in throughout the project to work with students. Ideally, at the end of the lesson, a rescue dog and its handler can come to the class so that the students can meet the dog, hear from the handler, and present their designs to the handler to see if their design would be beneficial for rescue dogs.

Author: Hannah Elliott

Download a zip file of the lesson plan and supporting materials.