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| In the Engineering Toys unit, students investigate the materials that are used to make toys and how they can make recycled or reused toys for other stakeholders (e.g., kindergarteners). They sort materials and determine what materials different toys are made of, as well as what purpose different materials serve. Using investigations, multimedia, and texts, students will determine how plastics, metals, glass, and fabrics are made by heating and cooling. Students will then use multimedia and text resources to learn about the benefits and challenges with recycling different materials, particularly plastics. They also interview a Kindergartener(s) about what they would want in a newly made toy. Building on their learning about different materials and their interviews with the kindergarteners, students design, build, and test toys made from recycled or reused materials. Throughout the unit, students focus on the Engineering Design Process and how that informs the use of materials and design of toys. |
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| The lessons in the Engineering Toys Unit help students make sense of how different materials have different properties with intended purposes. Lesson 1 introduces students to the puzzling phenomena, driving question, and the engineering design challenge of building recycled or reused toys for kindergarteners to use during indoor recess. Lesson 2 has students sorting toys and other objects to identify the materials they are made of and the properties of those materials. In Lessons 3, 4, 5, and 6 students investigate the properties of metals, plastics, glass, and fabrics to identify how they are used. In doing so, they describe how heating and cooling is used to make some new materials and to change the shape of other materials without changing the material itself. In Lesson7 students build on their learning about different materials and properties by testing the materials of different objects to see how well they hold up to their intended purposes. In Lessons 8 and 9, students focus on the importance of limiting waste by reducing and reusing through disassembling and reassembling objects (Lesson 8) and recycling (Lesson 9). In Lessons 10, 11, 12, and 13 students interview kindergarteners about the toys they would like, design, build, and test the toys, and then share the toys with the kindergarteners. | There is extensive waste in the oceans. A large portion of this waste comes from objects that are made from materials that can be recycled or reused. Instead, materials, such as metals, plastics, glass, and fabrics, can be reused or recycled to be made into other items (and not be discarded). These materials also have properties that are well suited to toy design. For example, an engineer may choose to use plastic for a toy that needs to be strong and smooth, glass for a part of a toy that needs to be transparent, or fabric for a toy that needs to be soft. When we reuse and recycle materials from already created objects by disassembling the original objects and reassembling them in new ways, we are reducing waste. In this unit, students disassemble objects made of different materials and reassemble them into toys for kindergarteners to use during indoor recess. In this way, the students are using recycled or reused materials that would otherwise be thrown out to instead make them into toys. Doing so can help reduce waste in the oceans and elsewhere around the world. |
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| | By the end of this unit, students will be able to: • Use evidence to support an argument that some changes caused by heating or cooling different materials can be reversed and others cannot be reversed. • Carry out an investigation to describe and sort objects by their materials. • Analyze data from their investigations and multimedia to determine the necessary purposes for the materials used to make different toys. • Disassemble and reassemble pieces of toys in order to modify how a toy is used. • Use the engineering design process to guide the planning, design, building, and testing of recycled and reused toys.
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| | Each lesson begins with an essential question. Please see Lesson Planner tab. Each lesson also includes multiple opportunities for students to engage in the essential practice of Asking Questions and Defining Problems: Asking questions and defining problems in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to simple descriptive questions. - Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world(s).
- Ask and/or identify questions that can be answered by an investigation.
- Define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
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| Assessment Statement #1: Students can describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties (aligned with 2-PS1-1). Lessons 2, 7, 10, & 13 Assessment Statement #2: Students can analyze data and observations obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose (aligned with 2-PS1-2). Lessons 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, & 12 Assessment Statement #3: Students can disassemble and reassemble pieces of toys in order to modify how a toy is used (aligned with 2-PS1-3). Lessons 8 & 11 Assessment Statement #4: Students can use evidence to support an argument that some materials change into new materials when heated and cooled and other materials stay the same (aligned with 2-PS1-4). Lessons 3, 4, 5, & 6 | |
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