Day 2: Nature of Science and
Engineering NSE 3-6
MSTP Region 11 Teacher Center
Today’s Trainers:
Tamara Moore and Gillian Roehrig
Goals and Agenda
 Teachers
will experience an integrated
engineering and science lesson
 Engineering is Elementary (EiE)
 Lighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems
 Correlating the EiE unit to State
Standards
Connecting to the Standards
EiE-Engineering is Elementary
EiE was developed by the Museum of Science
in Boston in 2003. Funded by NSF grant.
 Integrate engineering and technology into
science lessons that you currently teach.
 Does not explicitly teach the science, adds
on to deepen knowledge by combining one
field of engineering with science content.
 The units are not built upon each other; so
they can be taught as a stand alone or in any
order.
 http://www.mos.org/EiE
EiE-Engineering is Elementary
The main goal of EiE:
 Increase children’s technological literacy.
 Increase elementary educators’ abilities to
teach engineering and technology to their
students.
 Modify the educational systems to include
engineering at the elementary level.
 Conduct research and assessment to further
the first three goals and contribute
knowledge about engineering teaching and
learning at the elementary level.
An Overview of EiE Kits for grade 3-5
Unit Title
Science Topic
Engineering Field
Water, Water Everywhere: Designing water filters
Water
Environmental
Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier
Simple
Machines
Industrial
Sounds like Fun: Seeing Animal Sounds
Sound
Acoustic
Just Passing through: Designing Model Membranes
Organisms
Bioengineering
An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits
Electricity
Electrical
A Stick in the Mud: Evaluating a Landscape
Landforms
Geotechnical
Thinking Inside the Box: Designing a Plant Package
Plants
Package
The Attraction is Obvious: Designing a Maglev
System
Magnetism
Transportation
Now You are Cooking: Designing Solar Ovens
Energy
Green
A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes
Astronomy
Aerospace
Solid as Rock: Replicating an Artifact
Rocks and Minerals
Materials
A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil Spill
Ecosystem
Environmental
Taking the Plunge: Designing Submersibles
Sinking and Floating
Ocean
Lighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems
Light
Optical
No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces
Human Body
Biomeical
EiE Story Books
Teacher Guide
Each EiE Unit includes:
 Lesson plans
 Duplication Masters (e.g., student
handouts) leveled for Basic and Advanced
abilities.
 Assessment materials
 References for background resources
Teacher Guide Structure
Overview
 Prep Lesson
 Lesson 1: Engineering Story
 Lesson II: A broader view of an
engineering field
 Lesson III: Scientific data to inform
engineering design
 Lesson IV: Engineering design challenge
 Assessment

More on EiE
Story books: $6.99
Teacher guides: $45
Materials kits: most around $300
EiE Educator Resources: search for
content connections, multimedia tools,
and supporting documents
Overview of “Lighten Up:
Designing a Lighting System”
1. Omar’s Time
min.)
to Shine (Prep: 10-15 min., lesson: 90-120
2. Think Like an Optical Engineer
(Prep: 20-25 min., lesson: 60-75 min.)
3. Shedding Light on It
(Part I: Prep: 35-40 min., lesson: 75-90 min.,
Part II: Prep: 45-60 min., lesson: 55-60 min.)
4. Designing a Lighting System
(Part I: prep: 15-20 min. lesson: 55-60 min.,
Part II: prep: 10-15 min. lesson: 90-120 min.)
As I walk around, I stay with you.
I’m sometimes ahead of you and sometimes
behind you.
If you were smaller, I would be too.
If you come toward me, I often get bigger
(especially at night).
If you shine a light on me, I disappear.
What Am I?
Shadows
Individually:
 What is a shadow?

Where do shadows come from?

Are there different kinds of shadows?
Shadows
 The
riddle says “If you come toward
me, I often get bigger.”
◦ Why might some shadows change size
as you move while others do not?
Pinhole Lab
Predict:
Observe:
Explain:
Pinhole Lab

Explore what happens to the position of
the spot of illumination when you move
the maglite tip either to the right or to
the left, or upward or downward.
Describe your observations.

What strategy did you use to make a
successful prediction; that is, how did you
decide where to mark the screen?
Pinhole Lab
Write a statement (hypothesis) or draw a
picture that explains your observations
when you move the maglite from left to
right.
Pinhole Lab
Lights travels from a source in all directions.
 Lights travels in straight lines
 A light ray diagram is a convenient way of
representing how light travels in a specific
situation.

Pinhole Lab

Imagine that you set up two maglites as
suggested in the picture to the right.

Predict:
Observe:
Explain:


Pinhole Lab
Add light rays to the following top-view
diagram to show where the dots of
illumination would appear on the screen.
Shadows Lab
New experimental set-up
In the pinhole activity we developed two hypotheses: 1.
Light leaves a point source in many directions and 2. Light
travels in straight-line paths. Are these ideas
supported by this new experimental evidence?
Shadows Lab

Predict what you will see if you move the
maglite closer to the blocker.
Observe
 Explain

Shadows Labs

In the pinhole activity we developed two
hypotheses or main ideas: 1. Light leaves a
point source in many directions and 2. Light
travels in straight-line paths. Are these
ideas supported by this new
experimental evidence?
Shadows Lab
Shadows Lab

Imagine that you placed two maglites in
front of the blocker, as suggested in the
picture. Predict what you will see on the
screen.
Observe
 Explain

Shadows Lab

Draw a light ray diagram describing what
happens with the two maglitesTM
Shadows Lab

S3. Below is a not-to-scale diagram of the sun, moon and part of the
earth’s surface. The diagram shows an occasional situation when the
moon’s orbit places it between the earth and the sun.
For each observer, indicate whether they would be located in the
umbra part of the shadow, the penumbra part, or in a region where
there is no shadow.
 Suppose each observer looked in the direction of the sun through
dark glasses (to protect their eyes). Indicate whether each observer
would ‘see’ all of the sun, part of the sun, or none of the sun (that is, it
would appear as a dark disc).

Mirror Lab

In this experiment we extend our
investigation of light to consider what
happens when light interacts with a shiny
surface
mirror



Predict
Observe
Explain
Index card
Mirror Lab

Investigate what happens when you
change the angle of the light hitting the
mirror
The angle of incidence is
always equal to the angle
of reflection
Intensity Demo

What happens to our ability to see the
image as we move the flashlight?

As the distance that the light travels from
its source increases, the intensity of the
light decreases
Lesson 1: Omar’s Time to Shine
Read the story
 Discuss optical
engineering
 Introduce ideas about
light
 Introduce the engineering
design process

Lesson 1: Omar’s Time to Shine
What type of work do
optical engineers do?
 What did you learn about
engineering from Omar?

Technologies Optical Engineers Design and Improve



Coating to block light
Lasers for DVD player
Fiber optics


Camera lenses
Microscopes
Lesson 1: Omar’s Time to Shine

Let’s add to our poster
“What we know about
light?”
Lesson 1: Omar’s Time to Shine

How did Omar use the
engineering design process
to help him design a
lighting system?
Lesson 2: Think Like an Optical
Engineer
Explore how light interacts with a variety
of materials
 Learn vocabulary around light
 Connect findings to the work of optical
engineers

Lesson 3: Shedding Light on It
Explore how light travels in a straight line until
it comes in contact with another medium
 Experiment with reflecting light using mirrors to
determine the law of reflection
 Explore the relationship
between the distance of
an object from a light
source & the intensity of
light on that object.

Engineering Design Challenge
When Ancient Egyptian tombs were rediscovered in the 1920’s, people wanted to
make copies of the hieroglyphs and paintings
inside the tombs to display in museums around
the world.
 Artists were sent to the tombs
 They needed light inside the tombs
 They only had one light source… the sun!
Engineering Design Challenge
Your engineering team needs to design a
lighting system to light as many of the
hieroglyphs inside the Egyptian tomb as
possible using only mirrors and one light
source.
You will tell a documentary film crew about
your lighting system design when you are
finished.
Criteria and Constraints
What does our lighting system need to
do?
 What requirements do we need to meet?
 What are our constraints?

Lesson 3: Shedding Light on It

Most of Lesson 3 are activities:
◦ Path of light activity
◦ Angle of reflection activity
◦ Intensity activity
This content was covered in the Shadows Lab.
Lesson 3: Shedding Light on It

Vulture Hieroglyphs!

How can we make sure the artists can
see the details of the hieroglyphs clearly
enough to copy them accurately?
Let’s look into the
tomb. Is the light intense
enough to copy them?

Light Intensity Meter

Because there is already some light in the
box, you’ll need to evaluate the intensity
of the light on each hieroglyph.
Don’t remove lid!!! Use the viewing doors
to peek inside.
 Fill in sheet 3-15
 Record the highest number block for
each hieroglyph A-F.

Light Intensity and Distance
Draw the paths the light took to
illuminate each hieroglyph A – F on
Handout 3-16
 Turn in flashlights.

Lesson 4: Designing a Lighting System
Engineering Design Challenge
Your engineering team needs to design a
lighting system to light as many of the
hieroglyphs inside the Egyptian tomb as
possible using only mirrors and one light
source.
You will tell a documentary film crew about
your lighting system design when you are
finished.
Engineering Design

What is a system?
◦ A system is a group of parts or steps that
interact to achieve a goal.

What are the main parts of our system
designs?
◦ The light and mirrors

Is a system a technology? How do you
know?
◦ A technology is anything that people design to
solve a problem or meet a need. Systems can
be designed to help solve problems.
Evaluating our designs

Intensity Score
◦ We will use handout 4-11 in the same manner
as we did in Lesson 3. Transfer the intensity
score to sheet 4-6

Cost score:
◦ See the Lighting System Materials Price Sheet
(4-10)
◦ Transfer total cost to cost score by using sheet
4-6

Intensity Score + Cost Score = Total
Imagine!
Individually, brainstorm at least two ideas
for how to light the hieroglyphs (4-4)
 Share ideas with your group

Plan!

In your groups, plan for your design using
the two handouts marked 4-5.
Improve!

Fill out sheet 4-9

Then start again with Plan then Create…

The interview!!!
◦ See page 4-12 for the interview…
 Many ways to implement this!
Connecting to the Standards
An Overview of EiE Kits for grade 3-5
Unit Title
Science Topic
Engineering Field
Water, Water Everywhere: Designing water filters
Water
Environmental
Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier
Simple
Machines
Industrial
Sounds like Fun: Seeing Animal Sounds
Sound
Acoustic
Just Passing through: Designing Model Membranes
Organisms
Bioengineering
An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits
Electricity
Electrical
A Stick in the Mud: Evaluating a Landscape
Landforms
Geotechnical
Thinking Inside the Box: Designing a Plant Package
Plants
Package
The Attraction is Obvious: Designing a Maglev
System
Magnetism
Transportation
Now You are Cooking: Designing Solar Ovens
Energy
Green
A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes
Astronomy
Aerospace
Solid as Rock: Replicating an Artifact
Rocks and Minerals
Materials
A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil Spill
Ecosystem
Environmental
Taking the Plunge: Designing Submersibles
Sinking and Floating
Ocean
Lighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems
Light
Optical
No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces
Human Body
Biomeical
Characteristics of Good Engineering
Curricula
Context
 Science/Math Content

◦ (even better if there are other content too)

Scientific Inquiry
◦ Could include design of experiments

Engineering Design
◦ Design cycles
◦ Redesign
Exit Slip
Which of the EiE curricula are you most
interested in implementing? Why?
 On a separate piece of paper, answer the
question above and write one personal
reflection from this training that you
would like to share with the MSTP
Instruction Team.
 Turn this in as you leave.
