Engineering Practice

Refer to this Engineering Design Challenge flow chart (also included in your Portfolio) to learn more about the repeated process of researching, prototyping, testing, and revising designs until an effective product is created. Then check out this rubric from Iridescent Learning to see how student engineering projects are assessed.

Humans can't always engineer ourselves out of the messes we make on Earth. But ingenuity and resourcefulness can go a long way toward providing solutions. The TrashBot was designed to clean litter from the Chicago River. Unfortunately, TrashBot never seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Lots of trash slipped past. Then the inventors got the idea to crowdsource operation of the TrashBot by remote control. Anyone can take over as the TrashBot pilot. In the meantime, practice driving the TrashBot model in a pool, by clicking here.

Protecting Groundwater from Contamination

Groundwater, which might be more accurately called "underground water," fills pores between particles of soil and cracks in rocks. When clay or rock forms a barrier below, groundwater can pool in open spaces above it or flow towards an opening that leads to "surface waters" (rivers and lakes) Model an edible aquifer in a cup and be able to explain each layer and feature. see how groundwater behaves and demonstrate your understanding of the hydrologic (water) cycle. Then use earth materials and water in a clear container to engineer a solution that will protect (most of) the water in an aquifer from a source of contamination, specifying where would be the best place to locate a well (represented by the top and tube from a hand soap container). A Science Olympiad activity called Awesome Aquifers will help you get started. 

Filtering Pollutants from Wastewater

Contaminated water needs to be treated before it can be released into a stream or river. (Additional stages of treatment are required for  drinking water). One of the main steps in primary treatment is filtration. To learn more about the strengths and limitations of filtration, design and build your own treatment plant and see how effectively it can clean dirty water. Check out this film to see How Wastewater Treatment Plants Work. And then try the NASA Water Filtration Challenge . using recycled materials (such as plastic bottles), earth materials (sand and gravel) and filtering materials (cotton balls or cloth, paper, activated charcoal, etc).

Stabilizing Eroded Stream Banks

Stable stream banks are sloped and covered with plants. This protects them from washing away. But erosion and deposition can carve out soil from one bank and deposit it in the next curve. Flooding can change the route of a river. And clearing of trees can make soil flow into the river.

Make a stream table from a paint tray filled with earth materials, and pour water on it to simulate rain and see what happens. Model erosion and other "fluvial processes." Then engineer a solution to destabilized, eroded stream banks. See if you can reduce the amount of soil that washes away whenever it rains. Note that engineering solutions can incorporate man-made structures or "soil bioengineering" where banks are reshaped and plant roots or mulch used to help them in place.