Unit 9 — Structures and Engineering - Disaster Relief Buildings
Description
Students apply engineering design to a real-world challenge: creating emergency shelter or buildings that withstand disasters. Using current events and design briefs, students identify constraints and criteria for disaster relief structures. Students design and build using recyclables and craft materials, applying strength principles learned earlier. The unit emphasizes problem-solving for humanitarian purposes and connects engineering to social responsibility. Students research real disasters, understand needs, and create designs that address those specific challenges. This unit culminates in presentations or demonstrations of designs.
Essential Questions
- What makes a building disaster-resistant?
- How do we design for specific environmental challenges?
- What are the constraints and criteria in disaster relief design?
- How can engineering address human needs in crisis situations?
Learning Objectives
- Research and understand disaster impacts
- Apply engineering design to humanitarian challenges
- Understand building constraints and structural stability
- Design shelter using available materials
- Test designs for durability and safety
- Understand real-world engineering and social responsibility
- Communicate designs and reasoning to others
Supplemental Resources
- Recyclable materials and craft supplies for building
- Markers and colored pencils for design sketches
- Tape and fasteners for assembly
- Printed articles or images of real disaster scenarios
- Index cards for documenting design criteria and constraints
Algorithms and Programming
Engineering Design
Interaction of Technology and Humans
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Science and Engineering Practices
Students write informative texts to explain engineering design processes and create digital stories about investigations. Students engage in collaborative discussions during design challenges and present findings about prototypes and solutions.
Formative Assessments
- Research and analysis of disaster impacts
- Design sketches and material selection documentation
- Building and testing of structures
- Notes on design improvements and modifications
Summative Assessment
Completed disaster relief building design with written explanation of how it addresses specific environmental or humanitarian challenges
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through a verbal explanation of their disaster relief design with teacher support, using labeled pictures or models to show key features. Visual aids such as diagrams with word banks or simplified design templates may be provided to support planning and communication of ideas.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students with IEPs may benefit from graphic organizers or picture-supported research tools that help them gather and organize information about disaster impacts without relying heavily on independent reading or writing. Design sketches can be accepted in place of written explanations, and students may dictate their reasoning to a teacher, aide, or voice-recording tool during the summative presentation. Providing step-by-step visual directions for the building and testing process, along with frequent check-ins during each phase of the engineering design cycle, will help students stay on track and experience meaningful success.
Section 504
Students with 504 plans should be given extended time during research, building, and testing phases, as the hands-on nature of this unit benefits from reduced time pressure. Preferential seating near demonstrated examples or teacher modeling areas can support focus, and verbal or visual reminders about transition points between design phases help maintain momentum throughout the project.
ELL / MLL
Multilingual learners benefit from visual supports such as labeled diagrams, photo examples of real disaster relief structures, and illustrated vocabulary for key engineering and disaster-related terms introduced at the start of the unit. Directions for design briefs and building tasks should be delivered in short, clear steps with visual demonstration, and students should be encouraged to sketch and label designs using home language vocabulary alongside English as needed.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support should be connected to the unit's real-world humanitarian context through accessible entry points, such as discussing familiar weather events or community experiences before introducing technical vocabulary. Reducing the complexity of the design challenge by narrowing material choices or focusing on one structural feature at a time allows students to build confidence while still engaging meaningfully with the engineering design process. Celebrating incremental progress during building and testing phases reinforces persistence and problem-solving effort.
Gifted & Talented
Advanced learners can be challenged to investigate the specific engineering principles behind real disaster relief structures used by humanitarian organizations and evaluate how those professional solutions address multiple constraints simultaneously. Students may extend their design work by introducing self-imposed constraints — such as a material budget or weight limit — or by considering how their structure would need to differ for two distinct types of disasters, requiring deeper analysis and more sophisticated design trade-offs. Encouraging these students to frame their final presentation as a proposal to a real or simulated relief organization adds authentic purpose and higher-order reasoning to their communication.