Unit 1 — Lab Safety/What is Engineering?
Description
This opening unit establishes safe practices and foundational engineering concepts. Students participate in class discussions about engineering as a profession and conduct internet research on historical engineering achievements across the eight main engineering disciplines. The unit emphasizes civil engineering as the primary focus for the course. Students complete a day-one design challenge working in teams, such as building the longest line of paper from one piece of construction paper or creating a boat from tin foil that floats with maximum pennies. Students develop and present a Google Slide on engineers who made major historical developments. Safety lessons address proper use of hand tools, power tools, and equipment like glue guns. EdPuzzle lessons on engineering safety and ethics reinforce responsible practices.
Essential Questions
- What safety precautions are critical to follow in an engineering lab?
- What is engineering and how does it fit into STEM education?
- What are the different disciplines of engineering and how have they positively impacted society?
- What is civil engineering and what prototypes and designs are involved in this specialty?
Learning Objectives
- Identify and apply safe practices as required in the world of work
- Demonstrate proper and safe use of hand and power tools used in the lab
- Explain the meaning of engineering and how it fits into STEM/STEAM education
- Explain how engineers have contributed to the development of major technologies
- Explain the importance of differing engineering disciplines and their positive impact on society
- Understand what civil engineering is and the types of prototypes and designs involved
- Explain what simple machines are and provide examples in everyday life
- Students will ask questions about how different engineering disciplines solve real-world problems, and plan a simple investigation to test a design hypothesis during the day-one design challenge, applying SEP: Asking Questions and Planning Investigations.
Suggested Texts
- (untitled)
Supplemental Resources
- Chart paper for capturing class discussion on engineering disciplines
- Colored pencils and markers for design challenge documentation
- Construction paper and tin foil for day 1 design challenge activities
- Sticky notes for ranking and discussing problem statement criteria
Engineering Design
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Geometry
Standards for Mathematical Practice
Students engage in collaborative discussions with diverse partners, build on others' ideas, and express their own thinking clearly and persuasively during design challenges and project presentations.
Students make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, use appropriate tools strategically, attend to precision in measurements, and apply geometric concepts including scale drawings and spatial relationships when designing and constructing engineering solutions.
Students follow precisely multistep procedures when carrying out investigations and technical tasks, and apply engineering design processes to define criteria and constraints, evaluate competing solutions, and test modifications to optimize designs.
Formative Assessments
- Class discussion participation on engineering and the engineering profession
- Day 1 design challenge completion and group demonstration
- Internet research on historical engineering achievements in eight main disciplines
- EdPuzzle completion on engineering safety and ethics
Summative Assessment
Google Slide presentation on engineers who made major engineering developments in history, with explanation of importance and modern societal need
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students create and present a visual representation (poster, infographic, or digital media) comparing engineering disciplines and their societal contributions, demonstrating understanding through a non-traditional format
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
During research and presentation tasks, students may benefit from graphic organizers that break the engineering research process into manageable steps, helping them organize information before building their slides. For the design challenge and tool safety lessons, provide visual step-by-step references and allow students to demonstrate understanding of safety procedures orally or through physical demonstration rather than solely through written output. Extended time on the EdPuzzle and slide presentation, along with access to text-to-speech tools for research, supports students who need additional processing time. Pairing students strategically during team challenges allows for peer modeling of safe tool use and collaborative problem-solving.
Section 504
Students should be given extended time to complete the EdPuzzle lessons and to finalize their Google Slide presentation on historical engineers. Preferential seating during direct instruction on lab safety and tool use ensures students can clearly see demonstrations and hear directions without distraction. Printed copies of safety guidelines and tool-use procedures should be made available so students can reference them independently during lab activities.
ELL / MLL
Key vocabulary related to engineering disciplines, lab safety, and tool use should be introduced with visual supports such as labeled diagrams, picture-supported word walls, and video demonstrations before students are expected to use these terms in discussion or research. Directions for the design challenge and research task should be given in short, clear steps, and students should be encouraged to sketch or diagram their ideas before presenting them verbally. Where possible, allow students to access research sources or organize slide content using their home language as a bridge before transferring ideas to English.
At Risk (RTI)
The day-one design challenge offers a natural entry point for students who may be disengaged from more traditional research tasks, so connecting the hands-on building experience to the broader question of what engineers do can help establish relevance and motivation early in the unit. For the research component, provide a simplified structured template that guides students to find and record key information about one or two engineering disciplines before broadening the scope. Pre-teaching the meaning of core terms like civil engineering, prototype, and discipline — using real-world examples familiar to students — builds the background knowledge needed to access the unit's content with confidence.
Gifted & Talented
Students who quickly grasp foundational engineering concepts and safety expectations can be challenged to explore the ethical dimensions of engineering decisions, examining cases where engineering achievements had unintended social or environmental consequences alongside their benefits. For the Google Slide presentation, encourage these students to draw cross-disciplinary connections — analyzing how two or more engineering fields intersected to solve a historical problem — rather than treating each discipline in isolation. Students may also investigate emerging or contested areas of civil engineering, such as sustainable infrastructure or urban resilience design, deepening their understanding of how the field continues to evolve in response to modern societal needs.