Teacher's Guide - Engineering Lesson: Designing Your Own Travel Bag

Objective

At the end of the lesson, students will be able to use the engineering design process to generate research questions, brainstorm ideas, design, build, and test a prototype travel bag.

Materials

  • Copies of Handout- Engineering Lesson: Designing Your Own Travel Bag
  • Materials needed during brainstorming and problem identification:
    • weighing scale
    • meter stick
    • different bags
    • sample materials that students bring on a regular trip
    • materials from the Project Story (laptop, cell phone, essential materials, etc.)
  • Materials for making the prototype bag. Sample materials include:
    • cardboard
    • fabrics from old pillow cases (cotton, silk, synthetic fiber, etc.)
    • duct tape
    • needle and thread (optional)
    • rope
    Note: Students will decide what materials they will be using but you can set the parameters so that the materials are inexpensive and the prototype bag can be constructed in a class period. If you think that your students don't have enough time to make their own bag, another option is to ask them to bring different kinds of bags and modify these bags to meet their needs.

Instructions

Day 1 Brainstorming Ideas and Making a Design

  1. Prior to class, do the following:
    1. decide if you want your students to work with a partner or in a group
    2. ask students to bring the materials needed for the brainstorming and problem identification
  2. Review the Project Story with your class.
  3. Discuss the following design challenges with your students: (Note: You can modify these design challenges to meet your curriculum.)
    1. the bag should fit a laptop computer, cellular phone, and essential items. Students should decide what exactly these essential items are (food, few clothes, etc.),
    2. students will test their designs by walking around the room with the bag to test if the bag can hold the materials mentioned above, and;
    3. use a water spray bottle to test if the bag is water resistant.
  4. Distribute the Handout- Engineering Lesson and allow students to work with their partners or group to:
    1. identify the problem and the specific design features of the travel bag
      1. the length of time they will be away for this adventure (Note: The can use the data in Lesson 4 to answer this question.)
      2. materials they usually bring on a regular trip
      3. essential materials they will need to bring
      4. the maximum weight that they can carry
      5. how the bag will be carried
      6. the size of the bag
    2. generate research questions and conduct research,
    3. brainstorm ideas regarding the design features of their bag,
    4. draw/sketch several possible designs and solutions,
    5. choose one design and write their rationale for choosing a particular design,
    6. list the materials that they will need to make their prototype bag, and;
    7. Divide the materials among the members of the group and assign them for homework.
    Note: If you decide not to do the lesson on Day 2 Building and Testing Your Prototype Bag, you can choose to end the lesson by asking students to present their designs and explain the rationales of their design to the class.

Day 2 Building and Testing Your Prototype Bag

  1. Build your prototype bag based on your design and sketch.
  2. Test your bag based on the following design challenges: (Note: These are sample testing procedures. You are free to modify these. You are also free to set the parameters such as who is carrying the bag, how long the bag is going to be carried, how far the walk is going to be, etc. Setting these parameters before testing will help the students be objective during testing.)
    1. the bag should fit a laptop computer, cellular phone, and essential items as identified by students (food, few clothes, etc.)
    2. walk around the room with the bag to test if the bag can hold the materials mentioned above, and;
    3. use a water spray bottle to test if the bag is water resistant.
  3. Guide students to evaluate their designs. If you have time, you can ask them to redesign their bag.
  4. Designate a display area in your classroom or the school's hallway for students' finished products.