Engineering Design Process Lesson Plan: Engineering, Technology, and the Applications of Science

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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Engineering Design Process, and supports the standard of designing a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Prompt students to reflect on a design problem they would like to solve. Ask:

• What is an item you use in your daily life? How would you improve it?

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

• Read the description on the Engineering Design Process topic page.
• Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding. 
• Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Discoveries and Inventions” or “The Modern World”. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
  

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Engineering Design Process Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about the engineering design process while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.

• Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial that explains how you would use the engineering design process to create and test something you invent.
• Make-a-Map: Create a concept map identifying and explaining the steps of the engineering design process.
• Creative Coding: Code a learning game challenging players to sort actions and objects by steps in the engineering design process.

More to Explore 

Sortify: Inventions: ​​Challenge players to sort by attributes, such as product type, purpose, and more in this learning game.  

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of applications of science with these topics: Thomas Edison, Wright Brothers, and Critical Reasoning.

Teacher Support Resources:

• Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas. 
• Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
• Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.