Meghan Bednarek

Marissa Bonek
Ruthie Firnbach
Case 2
College Mentors For Kids Lesson Plan: Engineering a Rocket Ship

1. Overview of Lesson: This lesson will teach students the importance of engineering in the real
world. At the end of this program, they will know how planes and rockets can be manipulated
using engineering techniques to improve its performance. Although aerodynamics and
engineering seem like complicated concepts only used by people in the industry, we will show
the students how these themes can be put into practice even with a simple rocket/airplane
experiment.

2. Description of Learners: Our learners are at-risk 4th grade students. They go to school
during the day and come to our program after school. These students could be emotionally-
damaged, financially unstable or have other difficulties at home that allow them to attend
CMFK. There will be 15-20 students.

Learning Environment: Part of the lesson will take place in a large classroom with many round
tables. The classroom has whiteboards, internet access, and a projector. Part of the lesson will
take place outside (weather permitting) in a large, grassy area.

Intended Learning Goals: Our students will be able to explain simple aerodynamics and how/
why rocket ships can fly far into space. They will be able to explain which rocket ship design
will fly further and more smooth.

Lesson Content: The lesson will teach about aerodynamics of rocket ships. We will do an
activity with model planes to show how plane design works.

3. Learning Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain what aerodynamics is.
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to build a water bottle rocketship.
At the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain why certain models travel
further than others.

4. Standards: Indiana STEM Standards for 4th grade

Science:
4.4.1 Investigate transportation systems and devices that operate on or in land, water, air
and space and recognize the forces (lift, drag, friction, thrust and gravity) that affect
their motion.
4.4.2 Make appropriate measurement to compare the speed of objects in terms of the
distance traveled in a given amount of time or the time required to travel a given
distance.
4.4.3 Investigate how changes in speed or direction are caused by forces: the greater the
force exerted on an object, the greater the change.
4.4.4 Define a problem in the context of motion and transportation. Propose a solution to this
problem by evaluating, reevaluating and testing the design. Gather evidence about how well
the design meets the needs of the problem. Document the design so that it can be easily
replicated.

Engineering and Technology:

STL 9.C The engineering design process involves defining a problem, generating ideas,
selecting a solution, testing the solution(s), making the item, evaluating it, and
presenting the results
STL 9.D When designing an object, it is important to be creative and consider all ideas.
STL 9.E Models are used to communicate and test design ideas and processes.

5. Required Materials:
YouTube Video (access to computer and projector)
Lino Interactive Bulletin Board (on computer)
Paper
Pencil
Water bottle
Scissors

6. Procedures:
1. First, we will begin with a group discussion by asking the students what they know about
the term aerodynamics. Using our Lino Interactive Bulletin Board, we will explain the
definition of aerodynamics and show examples
(http://linoit.com/users/rfirnbac/canvases/inbox). We will also discuss throughout the
presentation what makes a rocket ship launch into space.

2. Secondly, we will show the students this video: http://youtu.be/HlZ2yyrooS8
3. After showing the video, we will discuss with the students which design they think would
make their plane/rocket fly the furthest. We will ask them to back up their theory based
on what they learned in the video.
4. We will then pass out materials for the project and an instruction sheet for them to follow
along with. Us teachers will be walking around to answer any questions.
5. We will help the students build their rockets. We will have one group of students (group
1) only put 2 fins on the bottom of their rocket ship and have the other group (group 2)
put 4 fins on the bottom of their rocketship. We will discuss what this happens
6. The students will be able to go outside (weather permitting) and fly their rocket ships.
One student from group 1 and one student from group 2 will stand on a long strip of tape
and will throw their rocket ship and far as they can. Afterwards, we will observe which
one went father. We will repeat this step until everyone had a chance to throw theirs.
7. We will discuss what type of rocket ship went farther and why.
8. At the end, we will explain to the kids that they are not allowed to make or play with
these while they are in school. However, they are allowed to after school and/or at home.

7. Assessment:
Formative Assessment: Throughout the lesson, we will have group discussions about
what aerodynamics is and why certain plans fly further than others, which will help us
determine what our students are understanding and what they are not.
Summative Assessment: There will be no summative assessment for this lesson.
However, their homework for the week will be to go out and explain to someone they
know why rocketships travel faster with 4 fins versus 2 fins and explain what the term
aerodynamics means.

8. References and Reference Materials:

Ferrini-Mundy, J., & Gler, B. (2009) Discipline-Based Efforts to Enhance Undergraduate
STEM Education. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2009(117), 55-67.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tl.344/pdf

Although this article was written about teaching undergraduates, we found this to be
useful in teaching our lesson. We did not previously know much about the STEM
disciplines or how to go about teaching it, so this provided a few guidelines for us. We
were able to modify and use this information to create our lesson for 4th graders, instead
of undergraduates like the article was based on. The article stated that its important to
have authentic assessments and group work while teaching STEM, which are two things
that we took from it for out lesson.

Andersen, M. (2009). E-Learning Tools for STEM. eLearn, 2009(10).
http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=1629315

This article talked about the various ways to teach STEM with technology. They
provided many different ideas and computer programs that would be useful while
teaching, some of which we have utilized in EDCI 270. This article gave us ideas on
how to integrate technology into our lesson, which is an important part of this
assignment.