Upper School girls teach 4th graders about Engineering Design

In January and February, Ellis Upper School girls worked with teacher Patrick Fagersten to develop a lesson unit that would teach grade four students the engineering design process. The Upper School students, who are taking the popular Engineering Design elective, used the design thinking skills they are learning in class to design, prototype and test marshmallow launchers!
The Engineering Design students met with, interviewed, and observed the grade four students in the classroom. This helped the older students to build empathy and learn about the specific needs of the younger students.

The Engineering Design students treated the grade four students as the end users and Mr. Fagersten as a client, presenting him with a variety of lesson ideas. Based on his feedback, they selected and implemented four lessons. Lesson 1 was a "marshmallow challenge," which gave the 4s a taste of the entire process right away. The lesson also demonstrated the importance of prototyping and planning, while not making assumptions: the marshmallow is heavier than it seems! Lesson 2 was an overview of the engineering design process and included a brainstorming activity. Lesson 3 gave the 4s time to select, build, and test designs. In Lesson 4, grade four refined their designs, and shared them during a playful competition in the LS gym that ended with prize winners for distance and height.

The entire unit took place over six weeks. Throughout the design process, the Engineering Design students worked in two teams and used a SCRUM task board to assign and check for completion of tasks. After receiving the final client feedback, the girls had one final reflection using the "Rose, Bud, Thorn" design thinking method. They grouped items into categories such as enjoyment, materials, and communication from which they gathered insights from commonalities and identified tension points. A significant lesson learned was that every minute counts in the classroom. Also, the girls came to understand complex issues such as the way that communication influences enjoyment,and how planning influences communication.

The Lower and Upper School girls did a terrific job. You can get a glimpse of lesson 1 with the grade four here and see the Engineering Design students test driving the marshmallow challenge here.

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