What is Novel Engineering?
Novel Engineering is an innovative approach that integrates engineering and literacy. An integral part of this process is students deepening their knowledge of the text's setting and characters in order to develop engineering constraints and criteria. Students use ELA standards about summarizing, context clues, characterization, identification of plot elements, cause and effect, and analyzing conflict to identify problems in a story, then create an original product that could help provide a solution.
Mini Challenge #1: Please, Please the Bees
The Text: Please, Please the Bees by Gerald Kelley
Introducing novel engineering using a picture text provided a quick way to introduce the Engineering Design Process alongside a text that was accessible to all readers quickly.
The Task:
To introduce students to novel engineering, we began with a simple picture book. We were still attending school all virtually from home, so the challenge needed to be accomplished on a digital platform. We began by watching Rashida Jones read Please, Please the Bees aloud on a YouTube video produced by StoryOnline.net. The students analyzed the characters and conflict contained within the book. Then, using after introducing the Engineering Design Process (EDP), they created a solution to the problem using www.autodraw.com. Finally, the published their solutions on Padlet.
The Results:
Mini Challenge #2 (Current): "The Most Dangerous Game"
The Text: "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
We used this short story text to analyze types of conflict and identify examples of conflict and elements of plot.
The Task:
Using the Engineering Design Process, students were tasked with identifying conflicts within the short story, then create/build a prototype of a solution to a problem. Some students will be creating product prototypes, while others will use dioramas and/or Mine Craft to model their proposed solutions. They researched similar products in existence, and if one exists, they have to show how their iterations will be different.
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