Transportation Lesson: Design Thinking
Lesson Plan
1 hour 30 minutesGradesK, 1, 2Engineering
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Written by Elaine Makarevich
About this lesson
In this lesson, students explore the engineering design process, transportation types, and energy use.
Inquire: Students play the digital game Ari’s Wonderful Ideas.
Investigate: Students explore the steps of the engineering design process.
Inspire: Students use the engineering design process to design and build a transportation vehicle.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- Students use critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creativity as they learn about the engineering design process.
- Students engage in the scientific process to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
- Students have opportunities to collaborate with classmates and share their feelings, including any natural frustration, as they design new transportation vehicles. This helps prepare them for the frustration people sometimes experience during the engineering design process.
- The lesson can be paused after the Investigate section and completed in two parts.
- Students use what they learned throughout the unit: clean energy, locations around the world, transportation modes, and human choices to build their transportation vehicles.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 4 of 4 in our K-2nd grade Transportation unit.
- Prepare a recycled materials supply area that includes a variety of boxes, plastic bottles, juice boxes, cardboard tubes, straws, paper, adhesives, and a variety of art materials for embellishment. These can be items that are donated to your classroom by students and their families.
If teaching this as a stand-alone lesson, teachers can use the Modes of Transportation activity in the Investigate section of Lesson 1 in the Transportation Unit to teach students about modes of transportation.
Differentiation
- Students can work in pairs or small groups to create their vehicles.
- Students can watch the energy video to review what they have learned about energy.
- Students can use an index card to record facts about their vehicles, similar to what you might see on a new car or truck.
- More advanced learners can create a stop-motion short film of their new vehicle in action.
From the scientist review
Scaling up environmentally friendly transportation in schools is crucial for reducing global warming. This lesson helps students to develop ideas for a just transition to clean transportation by allowing them to investigate energy-efficient and low-carbon-intensive forms of transportation. It is advised to teach this lesson because it has all the necessary resources and has undergone fact-checking.
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About the teacher writer
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Elaine Makarevich
Chief Outreach Officer
Elaine Makarevich, M.Ed., is SubjectToClimate's Chief Outreach Officer. She has over 30 years of experience teaching K–6 across all subjects and holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.Ed. from East Stroudsburg University and Centenary University, along with Supervisor and Gifted Education certifications. Outside of work, she loves gardening — flowers, vegetables, and everything in between.
