Lesson: Future Flights!
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder
Summary |
Engineering Connection |
Contents
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| Grade Level: 5 (4-6) | Lesson #: 10 of 10 |
Lesson Dependency  :None |
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| Keywords: invention, brainstorm, airplanes, flight, flying machine | |
| Reviews: Read Reviews | Be the First to Write a Review | |
Related Curriculum
| subject areas |
Physical Science |
| curricular units |
Up, Up and Away! - Airplanes |
| activities |
Design a Flying Machine |
Learning Objectives (Return to Contents)
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Work in a group to brainstorm an idea.
- Describe the invention design process.
- List some important inventions and inventors in history.
- Describe how engineers use the invention process.
- Explain the use of trial and error in inventing.
Introduction/Motivation (Return to Contents)
Have you ever thought of something that would make your life easier and wish that someone would actually invent that item? Have you ever invented a new recipe or concoction in the kitchen? What did it taste like? What did it look like? Have you ever built a go-cart or modified a scooter or skateboard? Inventing is an important part of the design process. Inventing can be spontaneous or driven by necessity. Engineers use the invention design process as they dream up new ideas for tools, buildings, chemical mixtures, airplanes, and etc. (the list is endless!).
Many common items in use today were the ideas of creative thinkers who thought "outside the box." Some inventions, such as artificial hearts, have saved countless lives. Some discoveries, such as electricity, fundamentally alter our lives. The invention of electricity led to many other products: light bulbs, electric stoves, heaters, etc. Even the two way radio wristwatch from the Dick Tracey comics is now a reality!
Inventions in the realm of flight date back to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), who, in his notebooks, had ideas for things that today are realities, such as helicopters, parachutes, and airplanes. Sir George Cayley invented a glider in 1804. The Wright brothers invented the first powered airplane in 1903. Seaplanes were invented in 1912, and in 1933, the Boeing Company designed the first modern airliner, the Boeing 247. Sometimes, inventors can apply for patents to protect his/her idea from being stolen and used by somebody else. The jet engine was patented in 1930 by Frank Whittle in Britain. Later, in 1983, the Stealth fighters (planes that are difficult to detect using radar) were made public.
Inventing plays a crucial role in engineering. Most engineers work on making new or improved designs that are basically new inventions. The invention process involves brainstorming, adapting, synthesizing, modifying and of course, trial and error. Have any of you seen the movie, "Apollo 13?" In this movie, the spacecraft has lost most of its power and needs to find a way to get back to Earth with what materials they have available on board. Basically, the NASA commander told the Apollo 13 crew that they had specific objects on their spacecraft to work with, and they had to use them to get home. The engineers then had to figure out how to get the spacecraft home with limited resources and in a limited amount of time. To do this, they had to be creative thinkers and use the invention process. We are going to learn more about the invention process during this lesson.
Lesson Background & Concepts for Teachers (Return to Contents)
What is the Invention Design Process?
The invention design process is the method by which people come up with new, creative, useful or helpful ideas. The invention process can be taught to some degree. Many people have laid out methods to do this, including the SCAMPER method (Eberle, 1996). Each letter in SCAMPER stands for a type of thinking process that helps during brainstorming: substitute, combine, adapt, modify/minify/magnify, put to other uses, eliminate and rearrange. At this level of design, it is simpler to start with some brainstorming work to get the creative ideas flowing, and then let the students get to work. Brainstorming is often the first step in any creative process.
How does the SCAMPER Process for Invention work?
The example below shows how the SCAMPER technique works when brainstorming or inventing. Take a common household object like a wire coat hanger. The first step is to substitute: can you substitute another shape or material for the coat hanger? Perhaps your idea could be made out of pipe cleaners, or perhaps the coat hanger could be reworked into a square instead of a triangle. Next, we look at combining. Can we combine the coat hanger with Velcro® so more clothes can attach to it? Can we combine it with a fragrance, so your clothes smell better? Then we go to adapt: What could be adapted on the coat hanger to make it more useful? Would two hooks work better than one? Next, you would go to modify/minify/magnify, and ask what could be bigger, or smaller, and so on. The final steps are: eliminate and rearrange. Here we try and find what can be removed from the coat hanger or what can be moved on it.
What is a patent?
A patent is a governmental grant to the inventor of a product that gives the inventor the privilege to exclude others from making the same invention. In the U.S., patents are provided for by the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8). The first law relating to patents was put into effect in 1790, and the U.S. Patent Office was established in 1836. In most countries, a patent has a limited time frame. In the U.S. a patent expires in 17 years.
Vocabulary/Definitions (Return to Contents)
| Invention: | A new device, method or process developed from study and experimentation. |
| Patent: | A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use and sell that invention for a set period of time. |
| Brainstorm: | To solve a problem with a group of people where spontaneous ideas are contributed and then built upon. |
Associated Activities (Return to Contents)
- Design a Flying Machine - This activity focuses on creating a flying machine of the future.
Lesson Closure (Return to Contents)
Students should discuss what they liked about the invention design process. Each student could share their flying machine design briefly with the class, and as they share, they can relate how they incorporated the concepts of drag, thrust, lift, etc, and how they utilized different types of materials in the craft. If that is too lengthy, students can break into smaller groups and share within their group.
Assessment (Return to Contents)
Pre-Lesson Assessment
Discussion Questions: Solicit, integrate, and summarize student responses.
- Questions: Have you ever thought of something that would make your life easier, and wish someone would actually invent that item? Have you ever invented a new recipe or concoction in the kitchen? What did it taste like? What did it look like?
Post-Introduction Assessment
Voting-Instructions: Ask a true/false question and have students vote by holding thumbs up for true and thumbs down for false. Count the number of true and false, and write the number on the board. Give the right answer.
- True or False: Leonardo Da Vinci had an early design for a helicopter? (Answer: True)
- True or False: The Wrong brothers invented the first powered airplane in 1903. (Answer: False; it was the Wright brothers.)
- True or False: A patent confers the rights of a product to its inventor for 3 years? (Answer: False; patents are good for 17 years.)
- True or False: Engineers often use the design process to create new things. (Answer: True)
- True or False: Boeing designed the first modern airplane. (Answer: True)
- True or False: The inventing process is quick and takes little effort. (Answer: False; the invention process often takes many years and lots of effort to complete one product.)
Lesson Summary Assessment
Inventor's Log: Have students develop an Inventor's Log for an invention of their choosing (i.e., something real or something they create). This log should include the following:
- The name of their invention,
- At least one drawing of their invention (more drawings can be added as they improve their invention),
- A business plan for their invention: How much will it cost to make? How much will it cost to buy? How long does it take to make it? Where will it be sold?,
- A marketing ad for their invention: a commercial, newspaper or magazine ad, and
- A signature and date by the teacher and at least one other student to act as witnesses and to make the log "official."
Jeopardy Review Game: Develop a Jeopardy Review Game using all of the concepts in the Airplanes unit. For sample questions and answers, use vocabulary words and question/answers from the Assessment sections of each lesson plan.
Lesson Extension Activities (Return to Contents)
Students could research and/or develop a patent form as a class. Apply these to their futuristic inventions or airplane designs.
Students could research and develop a business plan for getting inventions to market.
Have students develop a marketing plan for different futuristic inventions.
Modern or historical inventions can be studied and researched as they relate to the topic of flight, or inventions in general could be researched if students developed an interest.
References (Return to Contents)
Inventions and Inventors: Volume One-Air and Space. Grolier Educational, 2000.
http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm
Eberle, Bob. Scamper: Creative Games and Activities for Imagination Development. Waco, Texas: Prufrock Press, 1996.
Stanish, Bob. Unconventional Invention Book. Good Apple, 1988.
Stanish, Bob. Sunflowering. Good Apple, 1988.
Contributors
Tom Rutkowski, Alex Conner, Geoffrey Hill, Malinda Schaefer Zarske, Janet YowellCopyright
© 2004 by Regents of the University of Colorado.The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. 0226322. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Supporting Program (Return to Contents)
Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at BoulderLast Modified: September 26, 2008