Built to Last? Designing Experiments to Test Jungle Shelters
An example of a shelter made in the forest.Copyright http://www.moveto10.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/sh.jpg
In the continuing "Lost in the Amazon" scenario of this unit, students test the shelters they built in this unit's Lesson 3, Activity 1, for durability and water resistance.
This lesson and activity provides an opportunity for student teams to complete the engineering design process used by practicing engineers, including constructing and testing their designs. See the related unit's Engineering Connection for further explanation.
Design and conduct a scientific experiment by testing model shelters for durability and water resistance.
There are different forms of energy, and those forms of energy can be changed from one form to another – but total energy is conserved
Grade 8
Do you agree with this alignment?Identify evidence that suggests there is a fundamental building block of matter
Grade 6
Do you agree with this alignment?Use tools to gather, view, analyze, and report results for scientific investigations about the relationships among mass, weight, volume, and density
Grade 6
Do you agree with this alignment?
Test and evaluate the solutions for the design problem.
Grades 3-5
Do you agree with this alignment?
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
Grades 3-5
This resource focuses on the following Three Dimensional Learning aspects of NGSS:
Science & Engineering Practices- Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered.Do you agree with this alignment?
Disciplinary Core Ideas- Tests are often designed to identify failure points or difficulties, which suggest the elements of the design that need to be improved.Do you agree with this alignment?
- Different solutions need to be tested in order to determine which of them best solves the problem, given the criteria and the constraints.Do you agree with this alignment?
Do you agree with this alignment?- Plan and conduct an investigation collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, using fair tests in which variables are controlled and the number of trials considered.
Per Group:
- 1 Dixie cup or small bowl (as used in Activity 1)
- 1 cake tray
- 1 watering can (or cup with holes poked in the bottom of it)
- 1 container with lid (such as a coffee can)
Will these shelters keep us dry in the rainforest? Will these shelters be sturdy enough to protect us? How can we test them to see if they are durable and rain resistant? (As guided by the worksheet, proceed to work together as a class to design an experiment to test the shelters.)
- Discuss with students a good way to test the durability of the shelters.
- Give groups a time limit for setup in each step of testing their shelters.
Example Test
- After the shelters have been built, fold them.
- Put the folded shelters in a container (coffee can) and shake the container to simulate walking through the rainforest.
- Remove the shelter from the container and set it up on the cake tray with the Dixie cup inside.
- Using the watering can, pour water onto the shelter.
- Draw a line and number at the level of water on the cup. Measure the amount of water that ran into the cup and record this amount on a data sheet.
- Repeat steps 1-5 of this test five or six times to represent five or six nights.
Worksheet: Have each group complete and hand in the worksheet. Review their answers to gauge their depth of comprehension.
- Lost in the Amazon
- The Crash Scene
- Supplies to Survive in the Jungle
- The Need for Shelter
- Home, Sweet Home!
- Built to Last? Designing Experiments to Test Jungle Shelters
- The Growling Stomach
- Where's the Water?
- Attack of the Raging River
- The Evening News
Supporting Program
Adventure Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Acknowledgements
Adventure Engineering was supported by National Science Foundation grant nos. DUE 9950660 and GK-12 0086457. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Copyright
2013 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2005 Colorado School of Mines