facilitator guide - engspire · facilitator notes: mechanical engineering is the discipline that...

Super Engineers ©2017 www.engspire.org

Facilitator Guide

Duration: 90 Minutes

Suitable for ages 5-14

In this program participants are challenged to try out the super powers of a variety of engineers in order to

escape the clutches of the evil genius!

Equipment and Materials needed per participant:

LED

3V Cell Battery

Thick card stock (80-100pt)

4mm double side thick foam

Elastic bands

Plastic spoons

Pom poms

Popsicle sticks

Additional Equipment:

Printable resources in appendix:

Engineer Cards

Activity instruction sheets – Activity B

Component information and circuit diagram notes

Coloring sheets


Notes on Guide and scout program tie in’s:

To complete the challenge all groups must do at least one of the activities from section 1, a number of activities

form section 2 and the final section 3.

Branch Do Program connections

Sparks Section 1: option 1- Coloring sheet Section 2- Activity A and/or C

Section 3- Review

Exploring and Experimenting- Goofy Inventions

Brownies Section 1: option 1 or 2- Coloring sheet or card game Section 2- Activity A and/or C AND activity B

Section 3- Review

Making things go/ Special interest STEM

Guides Section 1: option 3 card game Section 2- Activity A, B and C

Section 3- Review

Engineering Try new things- STEM

Pathfinders Section 1: option 3 card game Section 2- Activity A, B and C

Section 3- Review

Everything comes from STEM

Beavers Section 1: option 1- Coloring sheet Section 2- Activity A and/or C

Section 3- Review

Science

Cubs Section 1: option 1 or 2- Coloring sheet or card game Section 2- Activity A and/or C AND activity B

Section 3- Review

Science

Scouts Section 1: option 3 card game Section 2- Activity A, B and C

Section 3- Review

Engineering


Section 1: Engineer Game

Duration: 10-15 minutes

This activity uses the printed Engineer cards from Appendix A.

Option 1: (Ages 5-7)

Colouring sheet.

After they have completed (or time is up) point out the many things shown that engineers work with and ask if

they know of anything else that engineers or technologists do.

Option 2: This version is best suited for ages 7-8 or smaller groups < 5

Use roughly half of the deck. Review the types of engineer with the group then divide into teams and ask

questions such as which engineer works with chemicals? Or name one thing a mechanical engineer might do.

Winning team is the one who gets the most correct answers!

Option 3: “Does/is your Engineer…”

Each participant is given one card and becomes that type of engineer.

Divide the room into two halves. One side is ‘yes’ and one side is ‘No’. The participants should then decide if

the statement you read out applies to them (yes) or not (no) and move to that side of the room. Some

questions have a definite correct answer as shown on their card and some will require them to think more

deeply.

Examples:

Easy

● Use a screwdriver? ● Use a computer? ● Sometimes work outside? ● Design a place to live? ● A man or a woman? (Follow up – do they have to be that gender?)

Medium ● Drive a train? ● Help you turn on the lights? ● Care about the environment? ● Ever wear a hardhat or lab coat? ● Solve problems?

Harder (Age12-14)

● Do something to allow you to brush your teeth in the morning? ● Work in a team? ● Use Math?/Chemistry?/ Physics?

Key learning outcomes

There are many types of engineers and some have very specific and interesting jobs.

We use things every day that were designed by engineers, and most things need more than one type of engineer working together.


Section 2: Escape the evil Genius’ Lair!

Duration: 60 minutes

Facilitator note: This activity has several mini challenges to complete. To follow the story they can be done in

order, or they can be done in ‘round robin’ style, switching each 15-20 minutes. For ages 5-8 one or more

challenges may be eliminated to allow more time to complete the others or to reduce the length of the program.

The story begins. After an epic battle the evil genius has managed to take you and your team of Super

Engineers captive and is keeping you in the dungeon of a castle, on a top secret island! How can you use your

collective engineering skills to escape his evil clutches before he returns and feeds you all to his pet shark?

Activity A: Electronic Engineer

Duration: 15-20 minutes

The story continues… First things first, it’s pretty dark down here in the dungeon; we could do with some light

to see if we can find a way out! You feel around in the dark and find some light bulbs, a car battery and some

foam and plastic pieces. How can you use these items to create light to find the door?

Facilitator Notes:

LED’s are directional and must be connected the right way round. Long leg is positive. Make sure participants

check the orientation with the battery BEFORE putting the last card piece on. Ensure you have spare LEDs in

case of burn out. LED’s are very energy efficient which is why more consumer products are replacing

inefficient halogen bulbs with them. This helps us save the environment!

Follow up questions should include asking what they could have used as a light source if they hadn’t been able

to stumble across those components. What did people use before electricity (candles)

Build a Flashlight

1 Light Emitting Diode (LED)

1 CR2010 Battery

1 x craft foam sheet 50x30x4mm

2 x rigid plastic/card sheet 25x30x1mm Instructions: Test: A simple flashlight can be made by touching the positive LED leg (the long one) to the positive side of the battery and the negative leg (the short one) to the negative battery terminal (the other side of the coin cell).

1. Cut a hole through the foam layer to fit the battery. 2. Slide the LED legs over the side of the foam to touch the legs to either side of the battery. One leg

should NOT touch the battery unless pressed down. Make sure the LED is the correct way around! 3. Glue one piece of plastic to each side of the foam. 4. Squeeze the device to connect the led leg to the battery and turn on the light. Letting go should turn it

off again!


Activity B: Software Engineer

Duration 15-20 minutes

The story continues… Success! Now we can see around the dungeon and discover that there’s a single door

at one end and it’s not even locked! You’re about to rush out when you get a funny feeling somethings not

right. Next to the door you see what looks like a map of the castle showing the way out! The only problem is

that also on the map are some symbols showing obstacles which will definitely cause you to be caught, or

worse. Before setting off you decide to figure out your route to make sure that your whole team stays safe and

also decide that the instructions should be written in code just in case you’re captured!

Facilitator Notes:

A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to the design, development,

maintenance, testing, and evaluation of the software and systems that make computers or anything

containing software work.

End

here ^ O

X X X

X

X X O X

X Start ^ Here

Final Code to escape the castle:

F1, R, F2, L, J, L, F2, R, F2, R, J, F1, L, F1

Code a way to the exit

1 map of the castle sheet per team of three

Pencil Instructions: Facilitator prep – you can mark out a life size grid using pieces of paper as stepping stones, chairs to mark no-go grids or tape to mark out the whole grid. Use creativity and local resources! Plan out each step and turn you need to make. Write down a list of coded instructions that can be given to a leader to follow. Use the following code for your instructions: F(number) - take (number) of steps forward e.g. F1 means take one step forward, F2, take 2 steps etc. L – turn left R - turn right J- jump over one grid square On the map empty grids are safe to step into. Grids marked X cannot be stepped into or jumped over. Grids marked O have no floor but can be jumped over into the next safe grid.


Activity C: Civil or Mechanical Engineer

Duration 15-20 minutes

The story continues… You race out of the cellar and escape from the castle only to find yourself looking out

over an ocean. The lair is on an Island. Off to one side you can see some land. You’re just about to jump in

and swim to safety when you see a fin sticking up out of the water- sharks! If you go in the water you’re sure to

be dinner! That means we have to go over.

Strewn across the beach you find some driftwood and old ropes, how can you use this to get to safety before

the evil genius discovers your escape?

Option 1: Build a Catapult (all ages)

Materials needed per person

1x Plastic spoon

1x Pompom

4-5 Elastic bands

6 popsicle sticks Stack 4 popsicle sticks together and secure at each end with an elastic band Tie the remaining 2 sticks together at one end Place the stack in between the two stick and secure with an elastic band Tie the spoon to the top stick.

Use the catapult to try to get your pompom (person) into a goal or past a point marking the land seen from the island. Try changing the amount of pressure placed on the spoon handle. How does that affect the height and distance that the pompom flies? Where is the optimal position to get the pompom into the goal every time?

Facilitator notes: A simple catapult acts like a lever.

The top popsicle stick acts like a spring. It wants to return to its’d straight, flat position. When we ‘load’ the

catapult we exert a force and give the popsicle stick potential energy. When we release it the popsicle stick

converts the potential energy to movement in order to move back to its natural position.

Some great follow up questions for this activity can centre on safety- how can we give better protection to our

person as they fly/crash land?

Facilitator Notes: Mechanical engineering is the discipline that applies the principles of engineering, physics,

and materials science for the design, analysis, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is

the branch of engineering that involves the design, production, and operation of machinery.


Option 2: Build a bridge (Ages 9+)

Materials needed per team of 3-4

Several Elastic bands

18-24 popsicle sticks Also: a weight to represent the fleeing super engineers (Cell phone is a good size!) Set up a testing area that will provide a gap of 4 inches that the bridges can be placed on. The aim is to build a bridge that can withstand the weight of all of your super engineer team at once so that you can all make it to safety together and leave no one behind! When you think you’re ready go ahead and test! Option- destructive testing. How much can your bridge hold?

Facilitator notes: Encourage participants to think about shapes they see used for large structures. A common

shape is the triangle because it is very strong.

Some great follow up questions review different designs and construction methods, were some more

successful than others? Were some designs faster and still effective at getting everyone to safety before you

were discovered escaping?

Facilitator Note: Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design,

construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads,

bridges, canals, dams, and buildings.

4”/10cm


Activity 3: Reflections Duration: 10-15 minutes

This activity should be led as much by the participants as possible to help them draw their own conclusions.

Where possible draw on examples from the group and ask questions that are most relevant to what you saw

from the groups or individuals. The key outcomes of the discussion relate to how they worked together.

Note: for particularly ‘squirrelly’ groups it may help to have a ‘presentation table’ where all the objects are

placed out of reach prior to starting the discussion to limit the level of distraction!

Questions: Reflection:

Who escaped from the evil genius?

This is a good temperature check to see how the group as a whole coped with the activity.

What was the most challenging activity?

This is most likely to be the key retrieval! What happened and

why? FAIL= First Attempt In Learning. Engineers don’t always

get everything right the first time. Experimenting, PROTOTYPING,

making mistakes and trying something new is ok!

Would/did you change any part of the design of any of your projects?

If yes, what and why? If no, why not?

How did you work as a group for each activity?

Review how groups worked together to share knowledge once team member got it, or how they incorporated different opinions.

Did all the engineers do the same things?

Yes- design, applying science but in different ways to achieve

different goals

No- different skills were needed to complete each challenge.

What was the favourite activity? This may vary and is useful to see how the idea of diversity has been received.

What kind of skills did you use

that would be important for an

engineer to have?

The skills will be dependent on the group. Try to reflect on the

activity and note any good examples you saw of these.

Teamwork, Creativity, Problem solving, Resourcefulness


FLASHLIGHT

ASSSEMBLY


LIGHT–EMITTING DIODE (LED) The circuit symbol for an LED is:

A LED is an electronic component (piece) that gives off light when connected to a power source.

A LED MUST be put into the circuit the right way round or it won’t work! The SHORT leg must be

connected to the negative side of the battery and the long leg to the positive side of the battery

BATTERY The circuit symbol for a battery is:

A battery is an electronic component that contains chemicals. When the positive side and negative side are

connected in a circuit a chemical reaction takes place to allow electricity to move throught he circuit and power

other components like the LED

-ve +ve


SWITCH The circuit symbol for a switch is:

A switch is used in a circuit to turn things on and off.

For our circuit we will be making the switch using our foam and card shell.

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

This is the circuit diagram for the flashlight


Castle Map

EXIT THE CASTLE

ENTER FROM THE DUNGEON

Plan out each step and turn you need to make. Write down a list of coded directions that can be given to a

leader to follow. Use the following code for your directions in case of capture.

F(number) - take (number) of steps forward e.g. F1 means take one step forward, F2, take 2 steps etc.

L – Turn to the left

R - Turn to the right

J - Jump over one grid square

On the map empty grids are safe to step into. Grids marked with a skull cannot be stepped into or jumped over.

Grids with a hole have no floor but can be jumped over into the next safe grid. Use as many or as few

directions as you need to make sure that your team reaches the end safely.

facilitator guide - engspire · facilitator notes: mechanical engineering is the discipline that...

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