Stormwater Design Challenge |
Engineering Design Challenges
Another form of interactive
research is the design challenge, in which students apply skills in mathematical
analysis, scientific inquiry, and technological design toward solving a specified
problem within certain constraints. Design challenges differ from experiments
in that the teacher specifies a specific problem for the students to address.
Working with the provided specifications, students select, build, and test
a design they have chosen to be optimal in balancing performance with cost.
After demonstrating their devices, student teams assess the performance, cost,
and strengths and weaknesses of each. This process is included in interactive
research because the students demonstrate their devices publicly and share
in the process of peer review.
Water
Sampler Design Challenge
Students collaborate to solve a water sampling design problem. For more information,
download the Teacher's
Manual and the Student's
Manual. Both require the free Adobe
Acrobat Reader.
The excerpt below is from the teacher's manual:
A mysterious fish kill has occurred in a 100-ft section of the Arquin Creek that flows through one of the glacial gorges in Hester State Park. You are part of a student research team that has been granted permission by the state to perform a preliminary investigation of the site. Your team has decided to take water samples at various depths so that you can perform chemical tests. Maximum depth of the creek within the gorge has been estimated to be 10 feet. The structure of the gorge where the fish kill has occurred limits your access to the creek. The stream is 20 feet across and is bounded on both sides by nearly vertical rock ledges that extend from a minimum of 2 feet to a maximum of 15 feet above the water's surface. You decide to build a sampling device that will allow you to retrieve water samples from the creek's edge to midstream from various locations along the rock ledges.
The principal author of these materials was Harry Canning, Newark Valley (NY) Central School, with supporting and editorial assistance from Leanne Avery, Bill Carlsen, Dan Meyer, and Dwight Schuster. Please note that these materials are © Cornell University and should not be distributed beyond your classroom without permission from Environmental Inquiry.
Other Engineering Design Challenges
These
design challenges appear in the Cornell Scientific
Inquiry Series books:
Copyright © 2009 Environmental Inquiry, Cornell
University and Penn State University |