Olympic Engineering: Design Process to Create Competition Venues
The Olympic stadium built for the Beijing Olympics illustrates great engineeringCopyright https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics#/media/File:Beijing_Olympics_2008.jpg
The Olympics are introduced as the unit theme by describing the engineering required to build grand and complex event centers. Then students are introduced to the techniques of engineering problem solving, specifically brainstorming and the steps of the engineering design process. The importance of thinking "outside of the box" is also emphasized to show that while some challenges seem impossible at first, solutions can be found when they are approached with creativity.
Engineers use the design process daily to come up with new design ideas for buildings, computers, software, water purification systems, airplanes, vehicles, toys, products, etc. The approach includes brainstorming and keeping an open mind when thinking of ways to solve problems. Teamwork is also an important skill to practice, as engineers typically work in teams to accomplish tasks. Completing a project usually requires the contributions and work of many people with different areas of expertise.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Describe the steps of the engineering design process.
- Explain the importance of thinking "outside the box" when brainstorming ideas.
- Describe the significance of engineers looking to the past to learn from both successes and mistakes.
- List three different types of engineers and give examples of their responsibilities.