In this lesson for Grades K-2, youngsters come to understand that there are limits to what the eye can see and that a magnifying glass can help extend those limits.

Context

Children come equipped with natural curiosity and creativity and have had many experiences with technology by the time they enter school. In particular, students may have been exposed to optical technology such as glasses, magnifying lenses, or even periscopes, microscopes, and telescopes. For this age group, classroom activities should begin to channel students’ inventive energy to increase their awareness and purposeful use of tools.

Standards

AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy state: By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

• Tools are used to do things better or more easily and to do some things that could not otherwise be done at all. In technology, tools are used to observe, measure, and make things. 3A/P1

• When trying to build something or to get something to work better, it usually helps to follow directions if there are any or to ask someone who has done it before for suggestions.

  Ideas in this lesson are also related to concepts found in the following AAAS benchmarks: By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

• People can often learn about things around them by just observing those things carefully, but sometimes they can learn more by doing something to the things and noting what happens. 1B/P1
• Tools such as thermometers, magnifiers, rulers, or balances often give more information about things than can be obtained by just observing things unaided. 1B/P2
• Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others. 1B/P3
• When people give different descriptions of the same thing, it is usually a good idea to make some fresh observations instead of just arguing about who is right.

In this lesson, students will view objects of various sizes from several viewing distances to discover that their visual field is limited. Students will record what they see and will compare their observations with classmates in an open, nonjudgmental forum. They will have the opportunity to speculate about and experiment freely with magnifying glasses and will also conduct more structured experiments.

Planning Ahead

Materials:

Common objects of various sizes and shapes, such as blocks, coins, pencils, books, and erasers
Yardstick
Masking tape
Magnifying glasses
Draw What You See student sheet
Draw What You See with a Magnifying Glass student sheet
Set up several viewing stations in the classroom. Each station should include an object placed on a surface, such as a desk or a chair. Measure distances one, five, and ten feet from each station to serve as observation points. Clearly mark these with masking tape labeled with the correct distance, noted as “near,” “middle,” or “far.” (See the Motivation section for further explanation.)

Motivation

To begin this lesson, assign students to viewing stations. Explain that they will look at an object from three different distances—near, middle, and far—and will draw what they see. Then distribute the Draw What You See student sheet. Make sure that students locate the spaces on the student sheet where they should draw the object as they observe it from each observation point.

Have students stand at the closest observation point and draw what they see in the space provided. Have them then repeat the procedure at the other two observation points. Emphasize that they are to reproduce the size of the object as closely as they can.

Allow students to discuss how the size and distance of an object from their eyes affects how easy it is to see. Encourage students to look at other objects at various distances from them in the classroom to reinforce their formal observations.

Have them consider the following questions:

• Which object is easiest to see? Why?

• Are objects easier to see up close or far away?

Facilitate the discussion to make sure students understand that the larger and closer an object is to their eyes, the easier it is to see.

Development

Continue the discussion by asking the following questions:

• How small would the object you observed have to be before you couldn’t see it any more? How far away?

• What are some things you have trouble seeing?

• What can you do if an object is too small or too far away for you to see?

• Do you know of any tool that might help you see objects more easily?

Accept any answers to the first question, but make sure students understand that their vision is limited. As they discuss the second and third questions, point out that if they can’t move closer to an object, they can use tools such as the ones they mentioned—which might include glasses, magnifiers, binoculars, microscopes, and telescopes—to make the object appear larger and easier to see.

Then hand out magnifying glasses—one per viewing station or one per student, as available. Tell students what they are and ask if anyone has used one or knows anything about it. Have students look through the magnifying glass at each other and at objects around the classroom to get a feel for what it does.

Encourage students to experiment with the magnifying glass—looking through it with both eyes open and one eye closed and holding it at various distances from their eyes—to find the best way to use it. They will probably see best with the non-viewing eye closed and with the magnifying glass held five or six inches away from their face. Stress that there isn’t one “right” way to use the glass, but that they should find the way that works best for them.

Note: It’s important, however, that students do understand that the closer they hold the glass to an object, the larger the object appears. The Extensions section includes a website for an interactive tutorial students can do to reinforce this concept.

Once students have determined the way the magnifying glass works best for them, hand out the Draw What You See with a Magnifying Glass student sheet. Have students return to their viewing station and instruct them to view the object through the magnifying glass at each observation point and again draw the size and shape of what they see as accurately as they can.

Assessment

Have students hold the Draw What You See and Draw What You See with a Magnifying Glass student sheets side by side and compare their drawings of what they saw with and without the magnifying glass.

Have them discuss the following questions:

• Are your two sets of drawings the same or different? If they are different, in what way?

• How did the magnifying glass affect your vision?

• How might people use magnifying glasses in real life?

• What other tools do you know that help people use their senses and bodies better?

Students should be able to conclude from their drawings that the magnifying glass makes objects look bigger. You might want to point out that the word magnify actually means “to make bigger in size,” and mention other related words they might know, such as magnificent and magnitude to reinforce the meaning of “bigness.”

If students are curious about how the magnifying glass works, you could give a simple explanation about how it focuses light rays. A good explanation and drawing for your reference can be found at ThinkQuest: The Optics.

In discussing real-life applications of magnifying glasses, students might mention seeing grandparents or other adults using them to read. If someone brings up using a magnifying glass to start a fire, explain that students should not use the tool in this way, since it is very dangerous.

A discussion of other tools that help people experience and get around in the world might include hearing aids, canes, crutches, and wheel chairs—as well as roller skates, skateboards, bicycles, automobiles, airplanes, and rockets. By the end of the lesson, students should have developed an appreciation of the importance of tools and technology in their lives.

Extensions

This lesson may be supplemented by the related Science NetLinks lesson Scientific Inquiry, which is designed to introduce students to the skills of gathering, recording, and communicating observations.

This 50-minute lesson for grades 3-5 introduces the ways that engineers study and harness the wind. Students will learn about the different kinds of winds and how to measure wind direction; how air pressure creates winds, and how engineers build and test wind turbines to harness energy from wind. A separate activity, Bubble-ology, introduces students to aerodynamics by challenging them to devise the best ways to keep a bubble aloft.

USS Trenton

Engineering Connection

Engineers monitor, use and design technology around wind. To make weather predictions, they design devices such as anemometers and weather vanes to measure wind velocity, force and direction, and predict wind patterns. To tap wind as a renewable energy source, engineers design wind turbines, windmills and wind farms. Engineers also consider wind and aerodynamics (minimize friction due to wind) in their design of cars, bridges, airplanes, structures and recreational equipment (hang gliders, sailboats).

Educational Standards: Click here to find out how this lesson fits your state’s requirements.

After this lesson, students should be able to:

• Understand the properties of wind.
• Describe basic Greek mythology around wind.
• Understand how wind affects humans.
• Understand that wind is a renewable energy source.
• Understand how engineers work to monitor wind and design technology to capitalize on wind energy.

erbium doped fiber amplifier

Introduction/Motivation

Wind is so important that the Greeks had eight Gods and a king of the four winds. The four original and most famous are: Aeolus, the Greek King of the Winds who had four sons; Zephyrus, the God of the West Wind; Boreas, the God of the North Wind; Notus, the God of the Southern Wind; and Eurus, the God of the East Wind. The Greeks knew that wind had many different characteristics and believed in a God for each one. Can you think of the different characteristics of wind? One characteristic is strong winds (Boreas), one is rainy winds (Eurus), one is fog and misty rains (Notus) and the last is gentle winds (Zephyrus). The “Tower of the Winds,” built 2000 years ago in Athens,

Tower of the Winds

Greece, is an octagonal tower with a God of the Wind on each side. There are actually thirty-two recognized directions in which winds blow, and there are thirty-two divisions on a compass.

What exactly is wind? Basically, it is just the movement of air. Air generally moves from areas of high to low pressure, creating winds. It can be the movement of air on a local scale such as your neighborhood (local winds) or the movement of air across the whole globe (global winds). Wind can be strong and heavy or light little breezes. Have you ever been outside when it is really windy? Have you ever seen garbage cans or leaves blown around by the wind? Sometimes we think that wind is scary when it howls really loudly at night. The wind can sometimes be our enemy — when it is so strong that it blows down buildings and causes billions of dollars worth of damage. On the other hand, the wind can also be our friend. It can produce energy and transport goods and humans. We can do fun things with wind, such as fly a kite, parasail and hang glide.

Do you think we could ever run out of wind? Well, wind is a renewable energy source. This means that wind can generate energy — like the energy we use to heat our homes — via windmills and wind farms. Being a renewable resource also means that wind is a resource that we will not use up.

Engineers work with all aspects of the wind. They develop wind turbines to harness energy from the wind and design better planes to fly through the wind. Engineers also build devices to monitor and measure wind, such as anemometers and wind vanes, to help predict wind patterns. Using this information, engineers can design better structures to resist the force of heavy winds and advanced warning systems for tornados and hurricanes.

Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers

Winds are caused by differences in air pressure and temperature. Meteorologists have made enough observations to define areas of high and low pressure across the Earth. For example, along the equator we normally find low air pressure. In addition, the sun heats the equator more than any other place on earth. These factors combined — with rotation of the Earth (or Coriolis Effect) — create global winds. Air tends to move towards the equator because air generally moves from areas of high to low pressure, thus creating winds. The winds from the north and south converge at the equator because hot air rises and then cools. The Coriolis Effect diverts the air to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. Without this diversion, air would just sink and return to the equator; but the Coriolis Effect moves the air back to the middle latitudes to start the process over again, creating a rotating effect. Similarly, some of the air from the middle latitudes moves to a low pressure area at the poles.

The global winds described above are named according to where they originate and to where they move. The prevailing westerlies move west to east from the middle latitudes toward the poles between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude. The polar easterlies move east to west from the poles to the middle latitudes as the air cools and sinks. The trade winds are winds that move from the middle latitudes toward the equator. They are called trade winds because they created an easy route for early explorers’ sailboats — and, they helped Christopher Columbus find the New World! The area where the trade winds converge near the equator is called the doldrums. This is where the air rises and is characteristic of calm, warm winds.

Winds are also created by local differences in air pressure and temperature, as well as surface disruptions, such as mountains, cliffs and trees. These are measured only on a local scale and last for a few hours or days. Wind blows against the surface of the Earth, and a force called friction slows the wind down. Other obstacles can also affect the wind, including buildings and vehicles. Can you think of any factors?

Hurricane Isabel, 2003

On hot summer days, many people like to go to the beach because of a local wind called a sea breeze. Sea breezes form because the land heats up faster then the ocean during the day and causes hot air to rise over the land. This in turn creates a low pressure that draws cool air in from the sea and feels great as you walk along the shore. During the night, the opposite happens and land breezes are formed. These breezes are not very strong because the temperature and pressure difference are less. Monsoons are similar to land and sea breezes, but they occur over a large scale and change from season to season, rather than day to night like land and sea breezes. One place monsoons transpire is in Southern Asia. During the summer months, the monsoon wind blows from the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea to the land. These monsoons are often accompanied with tremendous rains. During the winter, the wind direction switches and blows from the land to the sea. These winds are dry, resulting in clear weather for Southern Asia.

Finally, mountains, like oceans, often create an imbalance in air pressure and temperature. Mountains have many different types of wind: two examples are mountain and valley breezes. Valley breezes occur when valleys are heated; the air is warmed causing wind to blow up the slope of the mountain. Mountain breezes occur at night when the air cools and blows back down the mountain. Another example of winds caused by mountains is the Chinook winds in the Rocky Mountains.

Vocabulary/Definitions

Air Masses: Large areas of air defined by common air pressure and temperature.
Air Pressure: Pressure caused by the weight of the air.
Anemometers: A mechanical device that measures wind velocity and force.
Chinook Winds: An example of winds caused by mountains found in the Rocky Mountains.
Climate: Local conditions of a region including wind conditions and temperatures.
Coriolis Effect: A global force that causes air to move in a circular motion because of the Earth’s rotation.
Doldrums: The region near the equator that has very little wind.
Equator: The imaginary great circle around the Earth’s surface that divides the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
Land Breeze: A breeze that blows from the land toward open water.
Monsoon: Wind from the southwest that is accompanied by heavy rain.
Prevailing Westerlies: Wind that moves west to east from the middle latitudes toward the poles between 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude.
Polar Easterlies: Wind that flows from the north and south poles to the middle latitudes.
Sea Breeze: A cool breeze blowing from the sea toward the land that generally occurs in the early morning.
Trade Winds: Air currents that move back to the equator.
Troposphere: The lowest region of the atmosphere between the Earth’s surface and the tropopause, characterized by decreasing temperature with increasing altitude.

Lesson Closure

Review global and local winds and how air pressure can cause wind as air moves from areas of high to low pressure. Remind students how engineers use the wind for energy and to predict weather. Discuss how engineers make devices such as wind vanes to measure winds and wind turbines to harness energy from the wind. Explain that engineers can use the information gathered from a wind vane to decide where to locate and better build a wind turbine or shelter a building.

Assessment

Pre-Lesson Assessment

Discussion Questions: Solicit, integrate, and summarize student responses.

• What is wind?
• Do you have an interesting story about a windy day?

Post-Introduction Assessment

Question/Answer: Ask students questions and have them raise their hands to respond.

• How many Greek Gods of the Wind are there? (Answer: There are four Gods of the wind and one king of those Gods.)
• What is wind? (Answer: It is the movement of air.)
• How can wind be our friend? (Answer: It can produce energy and transport goods and humans. We can do fun things with it, such as fly a kite, parasail and hang glide.)
• What type of energy source is wind? (Answer: Wind is a renewable energy source. This means that wind can generate energy — like the energy we use to heat our homes — via windmills and wind farms.)
• What does renewable resource mean? (Answer: Renewable resource means that it is resource that we will not use up.)
• What do engineers have to do with wind? (Answer: They develop wind turbines to harness energy from the wind and design better planes to fly through the wind. Engineers also build devices to monitor and measure wind, such as anemometers and wind vanes, to help predict wind patterns. Using this information, they can design better structures to resist the force of heavy winds and advanced warning systems for tornados and hurricanes.)

Lesson Summary Assessment

Sounds of the Wind: Ask the students to come up with a sound for each of the four wind Gods (North, South, East, and West). Then take turns practicing the sounds with the whole class. As you continue your activities and the study of winds, use the sounds to help students remember that wind has many different characteristics.

Toss-a-Fact: Students work in teams and toss a ball or wad of paper back and forth. The student with the ball says a fact about wind and then tosses the ball to someone else. Each time a student catches the ball, they can list off a fact about wind or engineers (i.e., the doldrums are located near the equator, engineers get energy from the wind, wind is a renewable resource, and so on.) Continue to toss the ball until you run out of facts. Make it a contest to see how long the group can list facts about the wind.

Lesson Extension Activities

Go on a field trip to a weather station.

Invite an engineer who specializes in airplanes (an aeronautical engineer) to talk about airplanes and how they are built with wind as a consideration.

References:

http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/units/energy/blustery.html

http://www.windpower.org/composite-85.htm

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/nino/global.html

Dorros, Arthur. Feel the Wind. New York: HarperCollins Publishing Co., 2002.

Fowler, Allan. Can You See the Wind? Chicago: Children’s Book Press, 1999.

Graham, Ian S. Wind Power: Energy Forever. Chicago: Heinemann-Raintree Publishers, 1999.

Kennedy, Dorothy. Make Things Fly: Poems About Wind. New York: Margaret McElderry Books, 1998.

Owen, Andy, Ashwell Owen and Miranda Ashwell. Wind: What is Weather? Chicago: Heinemann-Raintree Publishers, 1999.

Owner: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder Contributors: Jessica Todd, Melissa Straten, Malinda Schaefer Zarske, Janet Yowell

Copyright © 2004 by Regents of the University of Colorado.

Aerodynamics Class Activity: Bubble-ology and Bernoulli

(Provided courtesy of Columbia Education Center’s Summer Workshop and the National Science Digital Library)

This activity for grades 4-9 introduces aerodynamics by challenging students to devise the best ways to keep a bubble aloft. In this fun context, you’ll teach Bernoulli’s principle and help explain how
airplanes fly.

Overview

Bubbles are not only captivating, colorful, and fun to make, they are also excellent demonstrations of scientific phenomena. Bubble-ology is a motivating and powerful introduction to the process and substance of science.

Objectives

As a result of this activity, the students will:
Devise ways to keep a bubble from hitting the ground, without touching it with their hands or with any other object.
Make 2 lists: methods that worked, and those that didn’t work.
As a group, students will use their demonstrations to decide whether increasing the pressure under the bubble or decreasing the pressure over it keeps an object aloft.

Resources/Materials

1 gallon container, 8 oz. dishwashing liquid, 1 measuring cup, 1 eyedropper, glycerin (optional), pint-sized
containers, straws or other hollow tubes, index cards.

Reference: Bubble-ology, Teacher’s Guide, LHS-GEMS: Great Explorations in Math and Science, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California – Berkeley.

Procedure

1. Prepare bubble solution: 1 cup dishwashing liquid, 50-60 drops glycerin (optional), 1 gallon water. Have
small containers of the solution, and straws or other hollow tubes to blow the bubble with, put in various
locations around the room.
2. Read: In the 18th century, a scientist named Daniel Bernoulli discovered a scientific principle that now
carries his name. It became the basis for airplane flight many years after its discovery. The Bernoulli
principle states that the faster air flows, the less pressure it exerts.
3. Draw a diagram of an airplane and an airplane wing on the chalkboard. Point out that as air hits the wings
of a plane, some of it has to go over them and some of it has to go underneath. Scientists have discovered
that regardless of whether the air goes over or under, it arrives at the other side of the wing at the same
instant. What does the Bernoulli principle say about faster moving air?
4. Explain that the force pushing upward is called dynamic lift. Summarize by stating that there are two
approaches to keeping an object aloft: increasing the pressure under it, or decreasing the pressure over it.
5. Divide your class into small groups. Ask the groups to experiment to devise methods to keep their bubbles from
hitting the ground and list methods that work by increasing the pressure under the bubble, or by
decreasing the pressure over it. You may distribute index cards and invite them to wave the cards over and
under the bubbles to further demonstrate Bernoulli’s principle.

Tying it all together and going further:

1. Students write a group report and share results of this activity, explaining which method worked and why.
2. Make or obtain posters of airplanes and airplane wings and post them around the classroom. Ask students to
explain how the Bernoulli principle is incorporated into the design of each plane.
3. Set up a series of short bubble obstacle courses, including challenging features as steps, curves,
corners, and a hoop.
4. Challenge students to use bubbles to detect air flow patterns in a room or outdoors.

Author: MaryAnne Nelson, Needham Elementary, Durango, Colo.

Ready, Set, Science! guides the way with an account of the groundbreaking and comprehensive synthesis of research into teaching and learning science in kindergarten through eighth grade. Based on the recently released National Research Council report Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8, this book summarizes a rich body of findings from the learning sciences and builds detailed cases of science educators at work to make the implications of research clear, accessible, and stimulating for a broad range of science educators.

Ready, Set, Science! is filled with classroom case studies that bring to life the research findings and help readers to replicate success. Most of these stories are based on real classroom experiences that illustrate the complexities that teachers grapple with every day. They show how teachers work to select and design rigorous and engaging instructional tasks, manage classrooms, orchestrate productive discussions with culturally and linguistically diverse groups of students, and help students make their thinking visible using a variety of representational tools.

This book will be an essential resource for science education practitioners and contains information that will be extremely useful to everyone including parents directly or indirectly involved in the teaching of science. Click here to read online for free.

• When do children begin to learn about science? Are there critical stages in a child’s development of such scientific concepts as mass or animate objects?

• What role does nonschool learning play in children’s knowledge of science?

• How can science education capitalize on children’s natural curiosity?

• What are the best tasks for books, lectures, and hands-on learning?

• How can teachers be taught to teach science?

The book also provides a detailed examination of how we know what we know about children’s learning of science about the role of research and evidence. This book will be an essential resource for everyone involved in K-8 science education teachers, principals, boards of education, teacher education providers and accreditors, education researchers, federal education agencies, and state and federal policy makers. It will also be a useful guide for parents and others interested in how children learn. Click here to read online for free.

Summary

In this elementary school acitivity, students learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of innovative new products. They demonstrate their knowledge of biomimicry by practicing brainstorming and designing a new product based on what they know about animals and nature.

Engineering Connection

Engineers often use the natural world as inspiration for design. Biologically inspired designs include air- and sea-going vessels, navigation tools such as sonar and radar, medical imaging devices, biomedical technologies like prosthetics, and water and pollution treatment processes. Biomimicry has resulted in many creative products, such as a materials inspired by the slick leaves of the lotus plant and its natural capacity to wash away dirt particles with every rainfall, and the Velcro hook-and-loop system inspired by the prickly plant burrs that stick to our clothes.

Grade Level: 3-6; Group Size: 2
Time Required: 50 minutes

Related Curriculum Subject Areas: Life Science, Science and Technology, Biology

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

Define biomimicry.
Explain how engineers use biomimicry to design innovative new products.
List examples of engineered products that were inspired by nature.
Use biomimicry to develop an idea for a new product.

Materials List

Each student needs: paper, pencil, markers or colored pencils, ruler.

Introduction/Motivation

Does anyone know what the word “biomimicry” means? Let’s break down the word into more understandable parts. “Bio” means life and “mimicry” means to imitate. So, biomimicry means to imitate life or nature. Who has heard the expression, “Nature knows best?” Well, biomimicry is a way of learning from nature. It is a way to observe nature in action and use that knowledge to inspire new ideas. Engineers often use these ideas to develop cool new products or better ways to do things to help people. Today we are going to learn all about biomimicry and how engineers look at the amazing characteristics of animals and plants to create new or improved product designs.

Can anyone think of an example of biomimicry? Think of something that has been designed with nature in mind. How about Velcro®? According to the Encarta Encyclopedia, Velcro® was invented in 1949 by a Swiss engineer, Georges de Mestral. He got the idea from the burs that stuck to your socks when you walk through a field. The name is formed from the first letters of velvet and crochet. Here’s an image of Velcro as seen through an electron microscope (Encarta/Meckes/Ottawa/Photo Researchers, Inc.):

Water filters are designed like animal cell membranes that let certain things pass through while others are kept out. Also, though planes do not flap their wings like birds, their shapes and the principles of keeping a plane in flight are the same as bird wings. People have also created adhesives that mimic the fascinating and sticky surface of gecko or lizard’s five-toed feet. Did you know that? Radar and sonar navigation technology as well as medical imaging was inspired by the echo-location abilities of bats. Also, the solar cells that make up solar panels are designed to mimic the way leaves collect energy from the sun.

Who created most of these products? Well, engineers, of course! Engineers have also used biomimicry of animals to design things like prosthetics, agriculture methods, navigation tools, and even running shoes. Darcy Winslow, the general manager of environmental business opportunities at Nike, Inc. said, “The extent to which the natural world can provide technological solutions for the types of product performance characteristics we must provide are virtually unlimited. Biomimicry still requires exploration, innovation and creativity, but by thinking like or working with a biologist we must learn to ask a different set of questions and look to nature for inspiration and learning opportunities” (The Science Creative Quarterly).

Engineers definitely look to nature for inspiration and learning opportunities! Another way that engineers learn from nature is to figure out ways to address the pollution that results from making and using products. Nature has a well-defined way of taking care of its “trash,” such as dead animals and leaves. Everything in nature is used, even its waste products. Sometimes natural “waste” becomes food for others animals or breaks down into soil nutrients available for reuse. This is a very important model for engineers; we can learn from nature to recycle our resources and not leave a contaminated mess behind every time we
make something.

Biomimicry is a process in which you ask the question, “What would nature do here?” Today we are going to be design engineers who use the biomimicry of animals to come up with a new invention! Are you ready?

Vocabulary/Definitions

Biodome: A human-made, closed environment containing plants and animals existing in equilibrium.
Biomimicry: Copying or imitating the special characteristics of naturally existing things (animals, plants, etc.) in human-made designs, products and systems. From bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate.
Brainstorming: A technique of solving specific problems, stimulating creative thinking and developing new ideas by unrestrained and spontaneous discussion.
Design: To form or conceive in the mind. To make drawings, sketches or plans for a work. To design a new product. To design an improved process.
Engineer: A person who applies scientific and mathematical principles to creative and practical ends such as the design, manufacture and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes and systems.
Imitate: To copy or follow as a model or example.
Inspire: To be the cause or source of; bring about. An invention that inspired many imitations.
Invent: To originate or create of a product of one’s own imagination, ingenuity or experimentation. To invent the iPod.
Mimic: To imitate or copy.
Model: (noun) A standard or example for imitation or comparison. (verb) To simulate, make or construct something to help visualize or learn about something else (as the living human body, a process or an ecosystem) that cannot be directly observed or experimented upon.
Engineering design process: The design, build and test loop used by engineers. The steps of the design process include: 1) Define the problem, 2) Come up with ideas (brainstorming), 3) Select the most promising design, 4) Communicate the design, 5) Create and test the design, and 6) Evaluate and revise the design.

More on Biomimicry

People have called on nature’s inspiration throughout humans’ history. By observing animals, plants and natural processes, we gain insight into what works and what does not. For engineers, these observations are helpful in both the design process and inspiring new inventions using natural technologies.

Examples of biomimicry based on or inspired by animals:

Airplanes modeled after birds (wing and body shapes, falcon beak)
Morphing airplane wings that change shape according to the speed and length of a flight, inspired by birds that have differently-shaped wings depending on how fast they fly

Fish-inspired scales that easily slide over each other to enable the morphing airplane wings

Boat hulls designed after the shapes of fish

Torpedoes that swim like tuna

Submarine and boat hull material that imitates dolphin and shark skin membranes
Radar and sonar navigation technology and medical imaging inspired by the echo-location abilities of bats
Swimsuit, triathlon and bobsled clothing fabric made with woven ribbing and texture to reduce drag while maintaining movement, mimics shark’s skin
Adhesives for microelectronics and space applications inspired by the powerful adhesion abilities of geckos and lizards
Water filters designed like animal cell membranes to let certain things pass through while others are kept out
Running shoes with technology learned from studying the mechanics of animal feet
Super strong and waterproof silk fibers made without toxic chemicals by spiders
Ceramics and windshields, after the mother of pearl material made by abalone mussels
Underwater glue for slippery surfaces, as made by mussels
Anti-reflective, anti-glare film used for flat panel displays, touch screens, lamps, and phone and PDA lenses replicates the nano-structures found in the eyes of night flying moths
A better ice pick for mountain climbers designed after the woodpecker.
Glow sticks made with light-up chemicals, just like fireflies
Very efficient pumps and exhaust fans applying the spiraling geometric pattern found in nautilus sea shells, galaxies and whirlpools

Examples of inventions based on or inspired by plants:

Hook and loop material (Velcro®) inspired by cockleburs
Solar cells inspired by plant leaves (photosynthesis, capturing energy from sunlight)
A wind-driven planetary rover design that maximize drag, learned from the tumbleweed
Self-cleaning exterior paint, tiles, window glass and umbrella fabric inspired by the slick leaves of the lotus flower plant and its natural ability to wash away dirt particles in the rain
Reduced-drag propeller designs inspired by the spiral shape of kelp, which moves with the current rather than fight it, so much less energy is required to move water or a ship
Water filter system that acts like a marsh (image from Encyclopaedia Britannica):

When biomimicry is well done, it is not just imitation, but inspiration using the design principles that nature has shown to be successful.

Nature’s rules (from science writer Janine M. Benyus)

Nature runs on sunlight
Nature uses only the energy it needs
Nature fits form to function
Nature recycles everything
Nature rewards cooperation
Nature banks on diversity
Nature demands local expertise
Nature curbs excesses from within
Nature taps the power of limits

Biomimicry can be used as a model for engineering designs that are useful to solve human problems. With the concerns for the environment, biomimicry may offer suggestions of how industrial designs can be more sustainable and appropriate for different climates and cultures.

Before the Activity

Gather materials.
Review the list of biomimicry inventions above, or if desired, research additional examples.

With the Students

Divide the class into pairs of students.
Ask the pairs to list three things both students have as common interests. These interests can be anything; examples: sports equipment, music, clothes, games, furniture, cars, etc.
Next, have the students agree on one of those common interests for their design topic area.

Tell the students they have 10 minutes to brainstorm with their partners to come up with possible ideas for designs within their interest topic using biomimicry of animals. Ask the students if they can think of any animals that remind them of their topic. What unique features do those animals have? How could they design something that uses those features? Remind students that this type of brainstorming and building on each other’s ideas is an important step in engineering a new, innovative product.
As necessary, remind students of the brainstorming guidelines:
No negative comments allowed.
Encourage wild ideas.
All ideas are recorded.
Stay focused on topic.
One conversation at a time.
Build on the ideas of others.
Pass out paper, rulers, markers and colored pencils to the students.
Give the students 20 minutes to design and draw their new product that uses biomimicry. Have students be as detailed as possible. Ask them to label parts and materials in their design.
Once they have finished design, have each team make a list of the special features of their design and which animal(s) inspired those features.
Mount the drawing and design features onto a piece of construction paper.
If time, have students role-play engineering companies and present their biomimicry designs to the class. Post their completed designs in the classroom or school resource center to share with others.

Troubleshooting Tips

If students have difficulty coming up with a design idea, help to steer them with suggestions. Or, assign a common class design area topic, such as sporting equipment or playground toys. After individual team presentations, have the class vote for the best design — the one they would choose invest in if they were paying clients.

Assessment
Pre-Activity Assessment

Define it! Ask the class: What is biomimicry? Break down the word to help students guess at its meaning. “Bio” means life and “mimicry” means to imitate, so, “biomimicry” means to imitate life or nature, specifically to help design products and systems for human use. Once the class has come to a consensus, ask volunteers to suggest examples.

Activity Embedded Assessment

Thinking through the design: Ask the students to identify which feature(s) of their design are inspired by nature. If possible, have them be specific about what type of animal or plant they are mimicking and have them describe inspiration (plant or animal characteristics, etc.).

Is It Biomimicry? Give examples of design ideas, some that are biomimicry and some that are not. Have students vote whether or not they think the designs involve biomimicry. If the design does include biomimicry, as for a volunteer to explain the natural world source of inspiration. Examples include:

Airplane wing? (Answer: Yes, after bird wings.)
iPod? (Answer: No)
Sonar navigation? (Answer: Yes, after bats.)
Computer printer? (Answer: No)
Hard coatings for car windshields? (Answer: Yes, after abalone mussels’ mother of pearl coating.)
Hulls of submarines? (Answer: Yes, after dolphin and shark skins.)
Soft cushion for a chair? (Answer: No)
Solar cell? (Answer: Yes, after leaves.)

Homework

Engineering Inventors Log: Have students think about everything in the natural world (animals, plants, cycles, processes) that might inspire them to create new products. Over the next week, have them look around their environment and make journal entries of design ideas and sketches for products that an engineer might create. Let them know that engineers often think of many ideas over a long period of time before they decide on one idea to develop. Often, they keep their evolving ideas in a dated engineering or inventor’s journal with details on the materials and methods they might use to produce the product.

Activity Extensions

Have students investigate an existing product that was inspired by nature. Require that they draw the product and describe the design features. For extra credit, have them provide creative ideas on how the product could be made even better.

In addition to learning from nature’s animals and plants, we can learn from its processes and cycles. Ask students to think of the many natural closed loop cycles, such as the food chain, water cycle, hydrogen cycle, etc., which are models that recycle endlessly, providing long-term sustainability. Ask them to think of a way that people could do something better by mimicking a natural process or cycle. Hint: There is no waste in nature. Take a new look at pollution and manufacturing waste as a sign of inefficiency and source of unused resources.

As suggested by Janine Benyus in her book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, nature provides us with a sustainable living example from which people can learn smarter ways to live. Provide students with nature’s seven “rules” and ask them to pick one and brainstorm how following that rule might lead to ways we could engineer more sustainable way of life for humans.

Reinforce math skills and help students learn more about scale drawing and engineering design. Have students imagine new engineering products and practice drawing their designs on graph paper to scale by assigning each grid square a real-life measurement value (such as cm or m).

Activity Scaling

For lower grades, help students by suggesting ideas for products they can design, as necessary. Or, assign a common class design area topic, such as sporting equipment or playground toys. After individual team presentations, have the class vote for the best design — the one they would choose to invest in if they were the clients.
For upper grades, have students make their drawings to scale with two “engineering” view drawings, a front and side view. Or, assign them one of the Activity Extensions.
© 2004 by Regents of the University of Colorado.

video featuring author Janine Benyus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n77BfxnVlyc

In this activity, late-elementary school students work in small groups to build a roller coaster with at least one loop and one jump, demonstrating how potential energy transforms into kinetic energy. Students observe the relationship of height to potential energy and the resulting kinetic energy.

Background: How Roller Coasters Work from the website How Stuff Works. http://science.howstuffworks.com/roller-coaster.htm

Materials:
Marbles or small balls
About 6 feet of flexible tubing, such as ¾-inch foam pipe insulation
Masking tape
Plastic cup
Scissors
Various supports, such as boxes, paper towel tubes or books

Key terms:
Kinetic Energy — Energy from motion.
Potential Energy — Stored energy that transforms into kinetic energy.

STEPS

1. Cut the tubing in half

This doubles the amount of “track” for the roller coaster.

2. Assemble the track
Your “car” (the marble) needs kinetic energy at the beginning of the roller coaster so that it can make it through the entire course. How should the tubing for the beginning of the roller coaster be positioned? Use tape and various supports to create the starting point. Use the tubing, tape and supports to build the rest of your roller coaster. Try to include at least one loop, hill and jump.

3. Place the cup
Put the plastic cup at the end of the course. The challenge is to get the marble to land in the cup.

4. Test your coaster
Place your marble at the beginning of your roller coaster and let it go. Did it work? Figure out what went wrong, and make adjustments to your course as needed. Try this – Once you get your roller coaster to work, try starting the coaster at a higher point and see what happens. Try a different design by adding more loops, hills or curves to your course.

5. What’s happening?
A roller coaster demonstrates <i>kinetic energy</i> and <i>potential energy</i>. A marble at the top of the track has potential energy. When the marble rolls down the track, the potential energy is transformed into kinetic energy. Real roller coasters use a motor to pull cars up a hill at the beginning of the ride. Cars that are stopped at the top of the hill have potential energy. As the car rolls down the hill, the potential energy becomes kinetic energy.

For Grades 3-8

These two lesson plans give elementary school students an early exposure to construction and the composition of building materials. By learning about construction materials used in their school buildings, students see, for instance, how rocks are modified into construction materials. They can also observe how these materials can deteriorate over time. At the end, teachers might want to take the students to a cemetery to witness the effects of weathering on a variety of monument stones. A PDF of the lesson plan, which teachers should familiarize themselves with beforehand, is available at http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/buildingup/index.html

Overview

WHAT HAPPENS TO BUILDING MATERIALS WHEN THEY WEATHER?

Buildings begin to break down
the minute they are assembled.
Weathering occurs as decomposition (chemical breakdown)
or disintegration (physical breakdown) or both.
One type of weathering can lead to another. For example,
a physical breakdown such as rock fracture makes
chemical breakdown more likely by exposing additional
surface areas to damaging solutions. Chemical
weathering, in turn, weakens the material, increasing
the likelihood of further fracturing.
Some chemical weathering is a consequence of acids
produced by living things growing on the rock. The
deterioration of structures such as bridges and statues
has increased dramatically in the last few decades, however,
because of chemical changes that produce acid
rain. Pollution from automobiles and industrial plants
adds sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and other gasses to
the natural carbon dioxide in the air.

LESSON PLAN ONE

ROCKS BUILD CITIES
In this guided-imagery lesson, students make drawings
of urban and rural environments. They use creative
thinking skills together with personal knowledge and
experiences to identify and interpret similarities and
differences in the drawings.

STUDENT PRODUCT
Student-made summary poster that includes:

a pair of personal drawings taped to poster board

names of objects common to both rural and urban
environments written on poster board
around mounted drawings

a written summary statement outlining how people
modify natural materials
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

poster board

drawing paper

colored markers

tape
ACTIVITY
1. Explain to the students that they will be drawing
images and writing responses to the guided-imagery
text you will be reading aloud. Assure them that you
will pause and allow enough time for them to follow
the specific directions as they are presented.
2. After the activity, ask students to share their
paired drawings with the class. Have them mount the
drawings on poster board and collectively identify
which scenes are rural and which are urban. As a classroom
project, compare and contrast several mounted
drawings, writing student comments on the board.
Have each student annotate his or her own poster in a
similar fashion by naming features that appear, in one
form or another, in both of the drawings.
3. After students have written these comments on
their posters, ask them to discuss how they depicted
natural materials adapted for use in the urban environment.
Students should write a summary statement on
their own posters. Statements should be simple and
straightforward. For example, “rocks cemented together
make buildings,” “sand melts to form glass,” and “river
gravel is mixed with cement to form concrete.”

READING GUIDED IMAGERY ALOUD
Encourage students to develop a mental picture
incrementally. They will build up the picture in their
minds as you read aloud. They will then illustrate
their impressions.
Allow plenty of time for them to draw and think.
Don’t rush. Encourage thoughts about the colors,
smells, textures, and sounds inspired by your reading.
Read slowly with lots of pauses. The first time
through, read the text printed in bold. The second
time, read the bracketed text printed in italics.

LESSON PLAN TWO
BUILDING BINGO
This “in-school field trip” gives students hands-on experience
in identifying building materials. By playing
Building Bingo, they might see their school building
and school grounds in a new light. The game requires
them to identify the structural materials found on
campus, as well as the substances used to make each
material. To accomplish this task, teams of students locate
interior or exterior building materials on their
school grounds that they’d like to identify. They will
take with them photocopies of page seven. Referring to
the Natural Materials chart, they will complete the
Building Materials Facts label. They will attach a label
to each material they have identified.
The labels state the name of the building material
and describe the source materials from which it is
made. Students use the information from each of their
Building Materials Facts labels to play Building Bingo
by crossing off appropriate boxes on their Bingo cards.
Before the team receives a “bingo,” the teacher or a
student mentor must verify each identification as well
as check the accuracy of the information on the labels.
STUDENT PRODUCT

at least one completed Bingo Building card

properly identified (labeled) building materials
(approximately three to five sites)
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Building Material Facts labels

Building Bingo cards

Natural Materials charts

ACTIVITY
Review the idea that people adapt natural materials
for use in the built environment. To do this, guide
the students using copies of the Natural Materials.

GUIDED IMAGERY
Close your eyes and listen carefully as I read to you. Keep your
eyes closed until I ask you to open them. If you want to say
something, raise your hand. I’ll call on you. Speak to the class,
and to me, with your eyes closed.
Now . . . imagine yourself on a summer’s day outside
[in a large city.] Don’t worry
about how you got there . . . you’re just THERE. Now, try to
see yourself sitting quietly [on some steps at the
entrance to a tall building in the city.] What [do
the steps] look like? Open your eyes and draw what you’ve
imagined on your paper. Draw [the steps to the
building.] Close your eyes again when you’ve drawn
[the steps.] Your [steps are] in the shade. It is hot outside.
You’re hungry. . . it is noon. It’s lunchtime; your stomach
growls.
Focus on what is around you. What objects do you see from
[the steps?] Open your eyes and draw at least three of
them. Draw the things you see from [the steps.] Focus
on what you hear . . . write down the sounds you hear. You can
write things like “leaves rustle in the wind.” You may write
anywhere on your drawing.
Close your eyes again. Now imagine it begins to rain; the rain
comes harder and harder. . . the wind picks up strength. Do you
want to stay on [the steps?] Why or why not? Where
do you want to go? Open your eyes. On your paper, draw an
arrow pointing to a nearby location that is not on your paper.
Write a word under the arrow. The word is to. Draw a blank
after the word to. Now, fill in the blank so it says “to the cave,”
or whatever you decide to say.
NATURAL MATERIALS
WATER AGGREGATE SAND CLAY LIME
Ceramic Tile
Glass
Brick
Asphalt
Plaster
Concrete
Mortar
REFINED
CRUDE OIL
(silica sand)

BUILDING MATERIAL FACTS
This material
___________________________
Shows weathering Yes No
(circle one)
Made with natural
materials Yes No
(circle one)
Contains or once contained:

? sand ? refined crude oil
? clay ? quarried rock
? lime ? ore minerals
? water ? aggregate
(or gypsum)
+ chemicals

At the end, review vocabulary, considering the students’ knowledge
level and the words that are presently familiar to
them.

TO PLAY BUILDING BINGO:

Students get into pairs or small groups

One team may play several identical cards at one
time; several students can mark off squares this way

Scoring is the conventional “all in a row” (vertical,
horizontal, or diagonal)

Students may mark off more than one square at
each stop

If games finish too early, require students to mark
only one square at each labeled site or adopt a bingo
pattern that uses additional mark-offs
Allow students to spread out through the building
to avoid the marking of an architectural component already
claimed by another team. You may wish to assign
a specific school section to each group to ensure
that all students have a chance to identify building materials
independently. You might award a suitable prize
for each team’s completed Building Bingo game.

Grade Level: 4 (3-5) Group Size: Not defined
Time Required: 40 minutes
Expendable Cost Per Group: $1

Summary: After reading the story “Dear Mr. Henshaw” by Beverly Cleary, students will build an alarm system for something in the classroom, as the main character Leigh does to protect his lunchbox from thieves. Students will learn about alarms and use their creativity to create an alarm system to protect their lockers, desk, or classroom door. Note: this activity can also be done without reading “Dear Mr. Henshaw.”

Engineering Connection: Engineers are constantly confronted with problems that must be solved as thoroughly as possible. Typically they will start with a simple solution and then redesign it in order to make the solution more reliable and efficient. Sometimes engineers are lucky and get it right the first time, but it is not unusual for a product to go through several redesign phases to improve the product.

Related Curriculum: Physical Science, Science and Technology

Learning Objectives

Students will gain a better understanding of:

The importance of alarm systems and where they are found.
How to work in teams, with members having different roles.
Design techniques and construction methods.
Understanding the importance of cause and effect when designing an alarm.
?
Materials List

Small bells (inexpensive)
String
Elastics
Balloons
Wires
Marbles
Paper towel tubes
Pipe cleaners
Popsicle sticks
Paper cups
Duct tape
Typical classroom supplies (such as paper clips, paper, tape, glue, erasers, scissors, etc.)

Introduction/Motivation

What is the purpose of a car alarm? It helps prevent thieves from stealing your car by triggering a loud alarm and drawing attention to the scene. How would you protect something that is valuable to you from being stolen if you were unable to watch it at all times? As an engineer, you must think of creative ways for protecting your locker, desk, or classroom door. Can you create a set of booby traps that will alert you if someone is trying to break in?

Engineers often work in teams. The advantage of working in a team is that everyone’s ideas can be combined to come up with a great idea. This concept of sharing ideas is called brainstorming.

Vocabulary/Definitions

Design: To plan and make something in a skillful way.

Procedure

Background

An alarm is a device that warns or signals, as by a bell, buzzer, or whistle. They work by having some type of unwanted action set them off. There are many different types of alarms. Some examples are: fire alarms, car alarms, alarm clocks, and security alarms.

Recommended Resources:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/inside-clock.htm

http://www.zetnet.co.uk/sea.jnp/earth.4/time.htm

http://www.howstuffworks.com/digital-clock.htm

Directions

Teacher should gather materials to be used by students to build the alarms.

Introduce the topic of alarms to the students. Discuss the use of alarms in our daily lives and where they are found. If using the book, “Dear Mr. Henshaw,” discuss why Leigh built an alarm.
Explain to the students their goal: They must build an alarm system to protect something in the classroom using only the materials that you give them. Some ideas are to build alarms to protect the students’ lockers, desks, backpacks, the classroom door, or a window.
Identify the materials available to the students. Discuss any safety concerns that should be considered with these materials being used. Explain that the alarm system must consist of at least three steps, and should use the least amount of materials as possible.

Talk about and explain what a design is and why it is important. Explain your criteria for the grading of their designs. NOTE: you may want to begin with a one-step alarm, and make it more challenging by adding steps. Break the students up into groups of 3 or 4. They should collaboratively accomplish the task of building an alarm.

Ask students to draw the design of their alarm system on paper, including an explanation describing what their alarm does, how it works, and what materials were used.
Have each group present their final products to the class and explain how it works.

Attachments

Group Worksheet (pdf): http://www.teachengineering.com/collection/wpi_/
activities/wpi_make_an_alarm/group_worksheet.pdf

Investigating Questions

What are alarms used for?
Why do we need alarms?
Where do we find alarms?
Why did Leigh in “Dear Mr. Henshaw” need an alarm?
What do most alarms have in common?
What might we need an alarm for in the classroom?

Assessment

Rubric for Performance Assessment (pdf):

http://www.teachengineering.com/collection/wpi_/
activities/wpi_make_an_alarm/assessment_worksheet.pdf

References

Cleary, Beverly. Dear Mr. Henshaw. Camelot, New York, New York. 2000.

Owner: Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, Tufts University

Copyright: © 2004 by Worcester Polytechnic Institute including copyrighted works of other educational institutions; all rights reserved.

Grade Level: 4 (3-5) Group Size: 3
Time Required: 45 minutes
Expendable Cost Per Group: US$ .50

Summary: In this activity, students learn about their heart rate and different ways it can be measured. Students construct a simple measurement device using clay and a toothpick, and then use this device to measure their heart rate under different circumstances (i.e., sitting, standing and jumping). Students make predictions and record data on a worksheet.

Engineering Connection: Engineers help doctors by developing devices to detect heartbeats such as stethoscopes and machines that monitor the heart rate of a person when they are sick or exercising. NASA engineers used the same technology that the fuel pumps in the Space Shuttle uses to help design a tiny ventricular assist pump to help pump blood through the body and regulates a heartbeat. There are many pumps that have been designed by engineers that mimic the pumping action of the heart in the human body.
Related Subject Area: Biology

Pre-requisite Knowledge: A basic understanding of the human heart and its role in the circulatory system would allow students to get more out of the lesson.

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:
Explain the mechanics behind a pulse.
Describe how to measure a heart rate and what affects heart rate.
List the importance of medical equipment designed by engineers to locate and monitor heart rates.

Materials List

For each group:

For attachments, click on The Beat Goes On in the “browse activities” section of TeachEngineering website.

Attached Heartbeat Worksheet (one per group) and Heartbeat Math Worksheet (one per student)
A 1” cube or ball of modeling clay (any color)
1 round toothpick
Stopwatch

For entire class to share:

Stethoscope (optional)
Empty 1-gallon milk/water jug (optional)

Introduction/Motivation

Have you ever heard your heart beating? The doctor listens to your heartbeat when you have a check-up or other visit. What is that sound the doctor is hearing? What exactly makes your heart beat? Well, the heart creates a beat because it works like a pump. The heart is similar to a water pump that brings water to the sinks all around your house. Instead of water, however, the heart pushes blood through your body in blood vessels. This pumping action causes high-pressure power surges of blood that travel from the heart through the body, in a pulse. Each power surge repeats itself almost every second. In order to detect the power surge, or feel your pulse, a vessel carrying the pumped blood, such as an artery, must be near the surface of your skin. Some vessels are better than others for feeling your pulse; however, we can find pulse points (locations where a vessel is close to the surface) all over the body for measuring heart rates. Some examples of good pulse points include: the radial artery in the wrist, the anterior tibial artery on the front of the ankle, the popliteal artery in the back of the knee, the femoral artery in the groin, the brachial artery in the inside of the elbow, and the carotid artery in the neck. Don’t worry, you do not need to remember the names of all these points, but it is good to know where they are located.

The lub-dub sound you are hearing when you listen to your hearth is the sound of the valves in your heart opening and closing. (“Lub” is when the two upper chambers, or the atriums, are pumping the blood into the ventricles, and “dub” is when the ventricles are pumping the blood to either the lungs or the body.) The harder your body is working (i.e., exercising), the faster your heart pumps blood through your body. Size is another thing that affects how fast the heart beats. Very large mammals can have a heartbeat of 20 to 30 BPM (beats per minute) and very small animals can have heart rates exceeding 500 BPM. The average human heart rate is around 60-100 BPM (resting), which means it beats more than 30 million times per year and about 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime.

The pulse is used as a guide for the health of the heart, and detecting irregularities helps to predict if arteries are clogged (which may lead to heart attacks). If an ambulance is called to help someone who is injured, the medical technicians immediately check the person’s pulse to see how they are doing. If the pulse is too fast or too slow, it can be a sign that something is very wrong and can determine the next course of action. Engineers help doctors by developing devices to detect heartbeats such as stethoscopes and image devices (little cameras) that allow doctors to see clogged blood vessels. Engineers also develop machines that monitor the heart rate of a person when they are sick or exercising.

In this activity, we test our heart rates by counting our pulses after certain activities. Then, we will think like engineers to come up with ideas on how to monitor how healthy our heart is using our heart rate.

Procedure

Before the Activity

Gather all activity materials.
Print out the Heartbeat Worksheet (one per group) and Heartbeat Math Worksheet (one per student).
Prepare an overhead of the locations of the pulse on the body.

With the Students

Ask students if they can see their heart beating. Discuss with students that our heartbeat can be heard and sometimes felt, but not always seen without some assistance. Engineers design special instruments to help doctors monitor the heart rate and pulse of patients in a hospital.
Divide students in groups of three: one person will be a recorder, one person will be a timer and the third person will be a pulse measurer.
Have students predict how many heartbeats they think will occur in one minute as they listen to their pulse. They should record this number on their Heartbeat Worksheet.
Demonstrate how to find a pulse on the left side of the neck.
Have students practice until they are able to feel the pulse and count accurately.
Have students count their pulse for one minute while sitting and record it in the proper section of the record chart. (Note: the teacher may want to time one minute, having all groups begin and end their counting at the same time.)
Pass out activity materials to each group.
If not already flat, flatten the bottom of the clay.
Insert the toothpick into the clay.
Place 1 group member’s wrist, palm side up, on the table, while the person is sitting.
Place the clay on the wrist, and move the clay around on the palm side of the wrist until the toothpick starts to vibrate back and forth.
Count the number of vibrations that the toothpick makes in one minute.
Have the recorder write the data on the Heartbeat Worksheet observation chart and label the units as BPM (beats per minute).
Repeat steps 10-13 with each member of the group.
Ask students if their own heart beats at the same rate all the time. Ask them to record their answer on their worksheet.
Have students check their pulse one at a time, using their pulse meter after each of the following activities and record the results on their observation chart.
Count after standing for one minute.
Count after jumping in place for one minute.
Ask students to share their findings with the class. When was their heartbeat the fastest? The slowest?
(Optional) Explain how the stethoscope is used. Let everyone listen to his or her heartbeat. Be sure to clean the earpiece after each use (alcohol wipes work well). Discuss what students heard and record comments on board. Talk to the students about how engineers design medical devices such as stethoscopes.
When might you want to know if your heart is beating too fast? How about too slow? What have you learned today that would help you design a heart monitor? Engineers design instruments such as heart monitors to help track the heart rates of patients in hospitals or ambulances. Have students come up with ideas on how to monitor how healthy our heart is using our heart rate. (If time, have them sketch their ideas on paper.)
Have students complete the Heartbeat Math Worksheet to calculate the number of times their heart pumps in a day or year.

Attachments (See The Beat Goes On in the Browse Activities section of www.TeachEngineering.org)

Heartbeat Worksheet (pdf)
Heartbeat Worksheet (doc)
Heartbeat Math Worksheet (pdf)
Heartbeat Math Worksheet (doc)
Troubleshooting Tips

Make sure that students are checking their pulse correctly. It may help to demonstrate process to the students first. Students must keep their wrist still to see the pulse movements with the toothpick. If they move their hand around a lot, they may get a false reading.

Students should get a number between 70 – 140 beats per minute for each trial.

Some students may have a weak pulse. Try to move the pulse meter around enough to get the toothpick to move. If this does not work, try to measure the pulse from the neck. You can also pick the person in the group who has the strongest pulse to use the pulse meter.

Assessment

Pre-Activity Assessment

Class discussion: Solicit, integrate and summarize student responses.

Can you see your heart beating? How do you know your heart is beating? Does the rate of your heart beat ever change?
Prediction: Have the students predict their heart rate when they are sitting still and record predictions on the board.

Activity Embedded Assessment

Worksheet: Have the students record measurements and follow along with the activity on their Heartbeat Worksheet. After students have finished their worksheet, have them compare answers with their peers.

Post-Activity Assessment

Prediction Analysis: Have students compare their initial predictions with their test results, as recorded on the worksheets. Ask the students to explain why their prediction was correct or incorrect. Discuss reasons why their predictions were either too high or too low.

Math Worksheet: Have students work through the Heartbeat Math Worksheet to calculate their heart rate. Students should answer the challenge questions on the bottom of the data sheet and discuss. If available, bring in an empty gallon of milk or water to show how much blood is pumped in 1 minute (1.7 gallon).

Activity Extensions

Create a large table of data with the heart rates of the entire class.

Repeat this activity with the students taking their pulse in other areas of the body such as, wrist and underarm.

Repeat the procedure for even more various activities; i.e., running in place for one minute, eating lunch, first thing in the morning, at the end of the school day, etc. Compare this data to data recorded earlier.

Have the students take the heartbeat of other family members (possibly even pets) and compare the results to their own for homework.

Activity Scaling

For older students, discuss what causes the heart rate to increase: stress, exercise, clogged blood vessels. Discuss the link to blood pressure. Blood pressure equals the Cardiac output multiplied by the total peripheral resistance. Cardiac output is heart rate multiplied by stroke volume, or the amount of blood pumped with each beat. Total peripheral resistance is a measure of the blood vessels resistance to flow.

For younger students: It may be easier to time one minute as a class and have the students start and stop counting together. Also, the math worksheet may be best as a class activity on the board. The challenge questions could be given to advanced math students.

Owner: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program and Laboratory, University of Colorado at Boulder

Contributors: Jessica Todd, Sara Born, Denali Lander, Malinda Schaefer Zarske, Janet Yowell

Copyright: © 2004 by Regents of the University of Colorado