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Engineering
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Inspired by the Elon Musk Carbon Capture project, students will design a machine that will capture CO2 emissions to clean our air.
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Today, a carbon neutral goal is good but not enough for our planet. When it comes to CO2 emissions, we need to think about carbon removal technics.
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“Trees make a significant contribution to converting CO2 into oxygen, sure, and planting more trees is always a good thing. But trees alone cannot keep up with the amount of carbon we are producing. We need trees, but we also need a big, new, radical piece of innovation”. (XPrize, Jan 22 2021).
Learning objective
The goal of this project is for Grade 9 students to gain a deeper understanding of the problem of CO2 emissions in relations to Global Warming, by designing a machine whose purpose will be to remove, reduce or recycle CO2 emissions.
Students will learn and apply the design process cycle: they will identify the problem, consider what skills are needed, create solutions, and reflect on the progress made. Ultimately, the criteria of success will not be the creation of a perfect product, but rather a growing understanding of creativity and design.
In order to achieve that, students will research design methods used by engineers in order to provide such solution. Students will then draw a mock-up of the machine and finally model it in 3D. They will present their creations at the end of the module in a blog.
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21 Century Skills for this project
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Students will use their creativity, problem solving skills and collaboration skills to design and build a machine which should be able to absorb or reduce the CO2 emissions in the air:
Collaboration skills: Students will be working in groups of 3 and collaborate with their ideas, technical knowledge, design skills and presentation skills, and come up with one machine for the team. Peer review will also encourage collaboration.
Problem solving skills: Students will have to use problem solving skills to find a creative way for a solution to this global issue.
Creativity: Students will have to show creativity in designing a new machine or ameliorate an existing one. They will have to show creativity in the mock up of their design.
Communication skills: Each group will have to present their final product at the end of the project through a blog. They will have to lay out in a comprehensive manner their design cycle process and final product.
Technology skills: Students will have to prove their technological skills and knowledge by using multiple tech tools to create a 3D version of their machine and communicate in a blog their findings.
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Project description
Phase 1 - Introduction
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Introduce the subject by showing the Carbon Capture video https://www.xprize.org/prizes/carbon/articles/why-is-the-world-talking-about-carbon-capture
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Group the students per team of 3.
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Share and discuss the engineering design process.
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Phase 2 - Research & Brainstorming
Groups to research technologies and engineering technics that would support the project and allow the machine to serve its goal of absorbing, collecting or recycling CO2 emissions.
Phase 3 - Ideation
Use mind map tool to present research, ideas and layout the design cycle of the machine as well as its functioning.
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Phase 4 - Design
On SketchUP, create a mock-up of the machine you propose.
Phase 5 - Peer Analysis
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Teams to share their mock-up and do peer reviews.
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Peer review document for assessment :
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Phase 6 - Rework and 3D development
Based on the peer review and feedbacks, review the initial work and finalize the project by creating a 3D representation of the machine.
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Phase 7 - Final project and requirements
Journal the team’s reflection of the design cycle on your blog and respond to the following questions:
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What inspired your project of machine? (i.e. natural element, existing technology, other machine repurposed)
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What challenges did your team face during the design cycle?
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How did you overcome these challenges?
The blog should include the 3D version of your machine presented in a video, the mock up, your individual and team reflections and your team members names.
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Evaluation
This project should take 6 weeks to complete.
For teacher evaluation and assessment, follow this link:
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References
Design process image: California Institute of Technology. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/robotics-engineering-a-rocket-transporter/
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David Kofoed Wind. (August 18, 2020). Encourage Better Peer Feedback with Our Guide to Feedback Rubrics. Eduflow.
https://www.eduflow.com/blog/encourage-better-peer-feedback-with-our-guide-to-feedback-rubrics
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Developed by Mareva Freites Lecerf
