Boston Regional GK-12 Meeting
January 23-24, 2004
Curricular Activity Template NAME: Lisa Ansara (5th Grade Teacher) and University: Worcester Polytechnic Institute Elizabeth Tyree (Graduate Fellow) and Worcester Public Schools Email:
[email protected] and
[email protected] Activity Title: Brainstorming Game (Survivor version) Grade Level (s): 5th
Approx. Time: 45 minutes
Subject Areas: Engineering Standards: (Please list by number using the following abbreviations: Earth and Space Science (ESS), Life Science (LS), Physical Science (PS), Technology/Engineering (TE), Mathematics (M)) TE
Description of Activity (please limit to 250 words): The Brainstorm activity consists of giving the class a problem, and in small groups the students must brainstorm as many solutions as they can think of. As a rule the groups had to put their ideas in writing. Only the ideas in writing were worth points. One such problem was the following: Your Engineering team is stuck on an island in the middle of a lake. There are 5 people in your team. Since your team has no food, everyone MUST get off of the island. It is 1000ft to the shore. How many ways can your team get to the shore? Remember each idea your team comes up with is worth 1 point. If none of the other teams have your idea then you get 5 more points. The class was given a list of items that they have with them on the island. They could only use what was on the list in their brainstorming. When done each group had to explain what their ideas were, and how they worked to the class. If there is time left over another problem is given and the game repeats. Implementation (classroom organization, presentation, other implementation comments): See description of activity above. Materials (include vendor information if appropriate): Pencils and lots of paper☺
Please attach any worksheets or handouts in electronic format that accompany this activity.
Engineering Brainstorming Lesson Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education
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Partnerships Implementing Engineering Education
5th Grade Elm Park Community School Brainstorming Lessons Teacher: Lisa Ansara Graduate Fellow: Elizabeth Tyree IQP Students: Elijah Mojica and Jonathan Scobo D
Boston Regional GK-12 Meeting January 23-24, 2004
Brainstorming Lesson Plan Purpose: – To introduce 5th graders to parts of the Engineering design process • • • •
Identifying the need or problem Brainstorm and identify best solutions Communicate solutions Test Solution
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Brainstorming Lesson Plan Method: – Transforming the Brainstorming Process into a series of Games. 2 Scenarios of which are: • Survivor, 5 people stranded on an island. How do we get to the shore. • $100 bill in Drain, how do we get it out? 3
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Brainstorming Lesson Plan Game Score: – 1 point per team for each idea – Ideas only counted if they were in writing – 5 additional points IF no other team has same idea – Points are totaled at the end. A different scenario is given and the game repeats 4
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Survival Game Problem Your Engineering team is stuck on an island in the middle of a lake. There are 5 people in your team. You have no food, everyone MUST get off of the island. How many ways can your team get to the shore?
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Survival Game Some Items on the Island:
500ft of rope A 10ft long canoe that holds only 2 people and has 2 paddles. An abandoned school bus, the bus is broken and cannot be fixed, but it can be taken apart. 5 trees, each tree is only 50ft tall, and 2ft wide 6
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Survival Game
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Survival Game
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Drain Activity Problem: If you saw a $100 bill in the drain, how many ways could you get it out?
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Student Response Survival and Drain Games: •Introduction to the key parts of the design process. •Learning to work in cooperative groups. •Challenged the students to think outside of the box. •Challenged the students to communicate their ideas in writing. •Learned to assess material needs for prototype construction. •Tested and revised their ideas. •Incorporated the experiences of their peers into their revised prototypes. 10
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Any Questions?
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Thank You!
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