Saturday SAVY, Day 1, Industrial Engineering (3rd-4th)
Meeting our 3rd/4th grade SAVY students for our Industrial Engineering class was such a pleasure. Our Making Friends with Math icebreaker gave me a chance to get to know them better, as we spend the next couple of Saturdays together. Our first conversation of the day showed that many students thought of technology as only referring to things powered by electricity. Our main goal and objective today was for students to debunk that thought and to recognize what an engineer is, as well as how technology is defined and how it has evolved. Students were also expected to identify 6 simple machines and their purposes.
In one of our first lessons, students received “mystery bags” containing an example of technology. When students opened their bags, they were surprised to see everyday objects like sponges, a stapler, a flashlight, etc. Students examined and recognized these everyday useful objects as examples of technology. They considered the purposes of these objects and what problems they solve. A handout to record notes was provided to guide their thinking surrounding essential questions and ideas. Then, in whole-class discussion, students learned that technologies are designed by engineers. This part of the lesson was intended as preparatory before students began Lesson 1 of our Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier unit.
After lunch, we read a storybook entitled, Aisha Makes Work Easier, which introduces many key aspects of simple machines and industrial engineering that are discussed in this unit. The characters in this story see how industrial engineers put simple machines to work. The lesson concluded with a discussion of the work that industrial engineers do and Aisha’s use of the Engineering Design Process. Later in this unit, students will use the Engineering Design Process themselves as they redesign a potato chip factory subsystem with their knowledge of simple machines.
Discussion Questions:
To continue their learning at home, consider asking your engineers these questions:
- What is an industrial engineer? What kinds of work do you think they do?
- What is technology?
- Do you think a shoe is considered technology? Why or why not?
- Can you name any simple machine? What problems do they solve?
Some insights for further review:
*An engineering system is a group of parts that interact to make a product.
*There are natural systems as well as human-made systems (ex: pollination system, human body system, etc.)
Additional Resources To Extend Learning:
Simple Machine Scavenger Hunt- Have students identify simple machines around their schools, neighborhood, playground, and home (lever, inclined plane, wedge, screw, pulley).
See you next week!
Ms. Norman, Ms. Abby