ENGINEERING PRACTICES

Applications in natural science

Asking Questions and Defining Problems: What is the problem? That’s the question

Plan & Do an InvestigationHow do I solve the problem? That’s the plan

Analyze & Interpret the dataDoes my information make sense? That’s interpretation

Use Math & Computational ThinkingCan I quantify data to find a pattern or variables? That’s computational thinking

Build an Explanation & Design a SolutionWhy will my solution work? Develop an answer

Develop & Use ModelsWill my solution work? A model (diagram, analogy, algorithm, sketch) tests your idea

Engaging in Argument from EvidenceWho is right? You or me? Presenting an defending your data confirms the solution

Follow the natural order of how we solve problems

Start with a problem to be solved

“Unknown dinosaur skull” You are a

paleontologist.

You have found this skull

Problem is, that is all you, or anyone else, has ever found—just

the skull.

What did the rest of him look

like?

Engineering Practices you will employ….

Asking Questions & Defining Problems

What’s the problem to be solved here?

Engineering Practices You Will employ…

Planning & Carrying Out an Investigation

What will you investigate? How will you do it?

Core Ideas to Build Upon ….

Probe students via open-ended questions for information they can glean from observation.

Probe for prior knowledge through open-ended questions

Engineering Practices You Will employ…

Analyzing & Interpreting Data

What information have you collected?

What is relevant?

How will you put the pieces together?

12”

12 x 9=108” = 9 ft long Thick, strong

neck

Strong muscular legs

My model

Engineering Practices You Will employ…

Developing & Using Models

Using Math & Computational

Thinking

Engineering Practices You Will employ…

Constructing Explanations & Designing SolutionsThe top of a

Pachycephalosaurus skull could be 9 inches thick, and much of the skull and the snout were also covered by small bony knobs and spikes. The size of the skull as a ratio of its body size means it was probably 9 to 10 ft long. Similar animals of that size and shape today weigh about 250 lbs, so it probably did.The dinosaur's distinctive domed cranium was so thick and stout that it can sometimes survive as a fossil when the rest of the skeleton degrades.Some scientists think that it’s thick skull allowed these animals to fight in head-butting battles compared to bighorn sheep and other modern animals do. Scars on its skull have been interpreted as reinforcing this hypothesis, though other research is contradictory. Pachycephalosaurus was an herbivore, probably fed on low-lying plants relatively close to the ground.

Engineering Practices You Will employ…

Engaging in Argument from Evidence

What data supports your reconstruction?

How do you know it looks like that?

Archeology investigation-“Is it really that old?” Visitor plays the part of

archeologist-looking at a fabric sample of something the owner claims is

thousands of years old. Looks at the unknown under a slide against a series

of exemplars—what is it? Could do similar activity with common

invertebrate fossils

--“How do we Know” lets visitors find out how paleontologists reconstruct dinos. In this case, they figure out what a pachycephalosaurus looked like—from only the skull (true story). Table with a lot of possible dino parts, but the head is permanently attached. From what they know, the visitor uses investigation, math skills and reasoning to reconstruct the entire animal-just like scientists do

Questions?

Work It Out:

Exercise in applying NGSS Engineering

PracticesClimate

Change!

MS-ESS3-5 - ESS3.D Global Climate Change

Asking Questions:

How can there be global warming when Kentucky

just had one of the coldest winters in years?

That’s the problem to be solved

• Global warming is in fact, “global”

• Kentucky, with the rest of North America, is in the Northern Hemisphere

• When its winter here its summer in the Southern Hemisphere

• The Southern Hemisphere saw record heat this ‘winter’

• Not sure what else was going on in northern hemisphere

Gather all the information (core concepts )

• Hot air rises; cold air sinks• Hot air causes low pressure areas; cold air causes

high pressure areas

• Different air temps, like different water temps, have different densities. Cold air is more dense

than hot air

•Air tends to move from areas of cold towards areas of heat

• Warm water circulates from the equator towards the poles

Explore the principals of weather and climate

We have the content, the data, the facts, the ideas…..

But its just a conglomeration of somewhat disassociated information

What next?

•Global warming is in fact, “global”

•When its winter here its summer in the Southern Hemisphere

•The Southern Hemisphere saw record heat but while we and much of the US had record cold, there were other places in the northern hemisphere that were average or above normal

•Hot air causes low pressure areas; cold air causes high pressure areas

•Different air temps, like different water temps, have different densities. Cold air is more dense than hot air

•Hot air rises; cold air sinks

•Air tends to move from cold towards areas of heat- cold air moves towards hot air

Group your data to start to see patterns-current events + basic weather principals start to reveal a story

Create a Model

Could be as simple as sketching out how hot air and cold air interact

Or perhaps an algorithm illustrating the If / THEN relationship

What else?

A pie chart or bar graph could indicate global temperatures in different places – that’s computational thinking

And a good model

But you now have constructed a solution!!! That’s engineering put into practice

Science finds explanations

Engineering finds solutions

Now I know why Kentucky can have a cold winter even with global warming –and I can show you!

Now I know how global warming works

Amplifying S.T.E.M. Throughout Kentucky…

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What does TECHNOLOGY mean to the Kentucky Science Center?

TECHNOLOGY is not just the newest phone or computer…

What does the “T” in S.T.E.M. mean to you?

TECHNOLOGY also means…

3D printing with Gort

Bringing surgery into your Classroom with Pulse of Surgery.

Offsite and Virtual Program Offerings from the Kentucky

Science Center• Pulse of Surgery – Offered both onsite at our facility and offsite as we link in outside schools.

•Distance Learning – We link to schools all over the country, offering a variety of science topics.

• Captain Current VS The Electricity Vampires – this mobile outreach program has reached multiple counties and can engage an entire school for a full

day of programming.• Offsite Classes – our in depth classes can come to

you! A variety of themes all aligned with the common core and next generation standards.• After school programs – from after school curriculum enrichments to evening science

festivals for the entire school.

Kim Hunter– Director of Education and Experience: 502-560-, Kim.Hunter@louisvilleky.gov

Mellisa Blankenship – Senior Manager of Fee-Based and Partnership Initiatives: 502-560-7164, Mellisa.Blankenship@louisvilleky.gov

Felicia Alfred – Coordinator of Early Childhood Enrichment Programs: 502-560-7154, Felicia.Alfred@louisvilleky.gov

Mira Gentry – Coordinator of Offsite and Fee Based Programs: 502-560-7126,Mira.Gentry@louisvilleky.gov

Rachel Beck – Education Specialist: 502-560-7139, Rachel.Beck@louisvilleky.gov

Contact Information