Unit 9 — Design Challenges: Structures and Problem-Solving
Description
During February and March, students tackle a variety of design challenges that build on concepts from earlier units. Challenges include designing towers (Rapunzel's Tower), creating structures that protect objects from impact (Egg Drop), designing disaster relief shelters in response to real or hypothetical disasters, and creating inventions to solve problems (TREP$ curriculum). Each challenge uses the engineering design process and builds teamwork and creative problem-solving skills. Students document their design thinking through sketches, written descriptions, and physical prototypes. The unit emphasizes identifying problems, brainstorming multiple solutions, building and testing prototypes, and presenting refined designs to peers.
Essential Questions
- How do we identify and understand an engineering problem?
- What processes help us develop multiple possible solutions?
- How do we decide which design works best?
Learning Objectives
- Define an engineering challenge and its constraints.
- Brainstorm multiple design solutions.
- Build prototypes using available materials.
- Test designs and collect data on performance.
- Evaluate results and improve designs iteratively.
- Present and defend design decisions to an audience.
- Reflect on the engineering design process.
Supplemental Resources
- Popsicle sticks, tape, and index cards for building structures
- Recyclables for creating protective containers and shelters
- Chart paper for brainstorming and displaying design ideas
- Graphic organizers for planning design steps and documenting results
Engineering Design
Interaction of Technology and Humans
Nature of Technology
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Formative Assessments
- Sketches and descriptions of design ideas.
- Observation of building and testing processes.
- Data from testing prototypes against success criteria.
- Student group discussions about design improvements.
Summative Assessment
A completed prototype for the challenge with supporting documentation (design sketches, testing data, description of iterations) and a presentation explaining design choices and results.
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through hands-on construction with teacher support, visual aids showing design steps, and verbal explanation of their prototype and design choices instead of written documentation. Sentence frames, labeled diagrams, and simplified sketch templates may be provided to support participation in the design process and presentation.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
During hands-on building and testing activities, provide visual supports such as picture-based steps of the engineering design process to help students follow the sequence of brainstorm, build, test, and improve. Allow students to communicate design ideas and reflections through drawing, dictation, or oral explanation rather than written text alone. Scaffolded graphic organizers with sentence starters and image prompts can support documentation of design thinking, and adult or peer support during group discussions ensures all voices are heard during collaborative problem-solving.
Section 504
Provide preferential seating during whole-group design instruction and ensure workspace arrangements minimize distraction during building and testing tasks. Allow extended time for completing design sketches or prototype documentation, and offer verbal check-ins to confirm the student understands the challenge constraints before independent or group work begins.
ELL / MLL
Introduce and display key engineering vocabulary — such as 'problem,' 'design,' 'build,' 'test,' and 'improve' — with accompanying pictures or simple diagrams throughout the unit. Directions for each design challenge should be delivered in short, simple steps with visual demonstrations before students begin, and students may be encouraged to sketch and label designs using their home language as needed to fully express their thinking.
At Risk (RTI)
Connect each design challenge to familiar, concrete experiences to help students access the problem-solving process with confidence — for example, discussing structures they see in their neighborhood before designing their own. Reduce the complexity of documentation expectations so students can focus on the core hands-on experience of building and testing, and provide a simplified version of the design planning organizer with picture prompts that guide them through each stage of the process.
Gifted & Talented
Encourage these students to push beyond a single successful prototype by independently investigating how changing one variable — such as the height, base width, or material choice — affects their structure's performance, and to record and interpret that data. During the invention or disaster shelter challenges, students can be invited to consider real-world constraints such as cost, environmental impact, or community needs, adding a layer of systems thinking that deepens engagement with the engineering design process.