The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project
STEM Dare to Dream BIG !
(Designing future dream house, dream car, dream job, etc)
STEM Dare to Dream BIG!
A 3rd and 4th grade STEM lesson
Kasi Johnson
9-11-2024
Notes for Teachers
Encouraging students, from a young age, to think about their interests, dreams and goals lets them see possibilities for the future.
As students listen to their thoughts and put those thoughts into action, they take ownership of their academic and social-emotional growth and become architects of their own success.
Students will begin creating their own Dare to Dream Big Unit. They will look at their dream job, dream home with front yard and backyard landscaping, and their dream car.
List of Materials
Standards
3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3.0 Career Planning and Management Students understand how to make effective decisions, use career information, and manage personal career plans
Arizona Educational Technology Standard
4. Innovative Designer - Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
Standards
Arizona Math Standards
3.MD.C.6: Measure areas by counting unit squares (e.g., square cm, square m, square in, square ft, and improvised units).
3.MD.C.7: Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition.
4.MD.A.3: Apply the area and perimeter formulas for rectangles in mathematical problems and problems in real-world contexts including problems with unknown side lengths.
CSS 3: Use technologies to quantify relationships in scientific hypotheses (e.g., calculators, computer spreadsheets and databases, graphing software, simulations, modeling. CAD app)
CSS 4: Identify and apply measurement techniques and consider possible effects of measurement errors.
Objective(s):
Today students will discuss their future dream careers, dream homes (including front yard and backyard landscaping) and their dream cars.
Students will pick out their dream job and write out a paragraph why they choose that particular career.(may research on computers if necessary to find more information on careers)
Students will engineer a blueprint of what their dream house will look like including separate architectural designs of their dream home, front yard design and their backyard design. (total of 3 sketches to assess. May also use Tinkercad to design their images as well)
Students will then think about their dream car. They will then engineer a blueprint design of their dream car. (may research on computers if necessary to find out more information on futuristic cars)
Let students research on the computers different designs of their dream homes, landscaping, and cars to give them some examples to visualize and design.
Students will present all of their possible DREAMS to their class when finished.
Agenda (240 min or 4 days)
Students are going to look towards their future plans and goals.
Let’s DARE TO DREAM BIG.
What is your dream job?
What type of house would you like to own?
What does your dream house look like? Special features?
What does your dream house backyard look like?
What does your dream house front yard look like?
What is your dream automobile ?
Students will engineer architectural designs and blueprints of their dream home, front and back dream landscaping, and their dream car.
Students may need to research on computers if necessary to help them visualize
Students will write out a paragraph of their dream job and why they choose it.
Students will present their DREAM BIG unit to the class when completed.
What are your future plans and goals when you grow up?
*In this unit, you will begin designing your future dream career, dream home, and your dream car.
Choosing a career is one the most important decisions we make in life.
Brainstorm about occupations/careers of interest. Discuss as a class.
What qualifications do you think you would need in order to perform your dream job?
Do you have any of the qualifications needed for this job?
If not, how do you hope to get the training needed?
Choose a dream job. Conduct a web search to find out as much information as you can about it.
● What does a typical day look like? ● What skills do you need? ● What qualifications do you need?
● What would be the best (and worst) things about the job
On the next couple slides, you will notice a list of jobs and their salary (what they pay). What do you notice about each of them? Let’s take a look and discuss together.
Dream Career Examples
Dream Career Examples
Have you ever thought about your future dream home?
Below is a list of different style of homes. Match the letter to the correct number below.
*There are two additional types of homes.
a) detached house
b) block of flats
c) cottage
d) semi-detached house
e) farmhouse
f) mansion
g) camper van
h) villa
i) terraced house
*Choose three types of homes and talk about the advantages and disadvantages of living in them.
*There are two additional types of homes.
1) a luxurious house
2) one of a row of houses that are joined to each other
3) a van which is adapted for living inside and travelling around
4) a building that consists of many flats
5) a single house not connected to any other building
6) a house that is joined to one other
7) a small house in the country
*Which aspects would be important for you while building your dream home?
Dream Home-What is your dream home?
Begin by watching the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu7VKkmF5Vg
Discuss the following questions:
• There must be more than one bathroom in my dream home. Do you agree? Why/Why not?
• Which is more important for you: lots of space in your home or a central location?
• A beautiful yard is a must- Do you agree or disagree? Why?
*What special features would you have built in your home? Give some examples.
(movie room, game room, basement, indoor swimming pool, hidden rooms, etc)
Next, tell your partner or table group what your dream home looks like including:
• location • views • appearance • rooms • size • amenities*special features it will have inside
On the next couple slides are examples of how to engineer your dream home. Please take notice the architectural layout as well as each room labeled. You will be designing your own dream home.
Dream Home Examples
Dream Front and Backyard Landscaping
• Close your eyes and think about the landscaping of your dream home.
What does it look like?
Do you want large trees? Beautiful flowers? Big bushes along the driveway or fence in the backyard?
A 4 car garage with a long spiral driveway with a white picket fence?
Does it have a swimming pool? A jacuzzi? Waterslide?
Trampoline in the ground?
Tree house? Forts?
Secret entrances? Spiral staircase from backyard to the 2nd/3rd story of your home?
Dream BIG !! If you could have anything in the front and backyard, what would it be and how would you design in?
In the next slides, you will see some examples of how to architectural engineer the front yard and the backyard.
Backyard Designs examples
Front Yard Designs examples
Future Dream Car
What does your future dream car look like?
Close your eyes and think of all the special features your dream car can have in it.
What do you like and dislike about the different car designs of today? Discuss as a class.
When designing your dream car, can the change of a line give the vehicle more function?
How do you think cars will evolve in the future? Discuss as a class. On the next slide, you will see engineered designs of certain automobiles. Compare and contrast.
Dream Car examples
Hands-on Activity Instructions
Students will begin thinking about their future plans and goals they want to accomplish.
Students can begin researching the different options for their future dreams. (Career, dream home, dream front yard, dream backyard, and dream car)
Students will pick a dream job career and write or type on computer doc a paragraph why they choose that particular career and what they hope to accomplish.
Next, students will begin engineering what they want their dream home to look like. They will research different architectural designs. They will begin sketching their dream house on paper or Tinkercad program. Make sure they incorporate any special features in to their dream house. (game room, movie room, all of the bathrooms, bedrooms, basement, attic, piano room, family room, dining room, and any hidden rooms, windows, garage, front and back doors, etc)
Make sure each room in their dream house is labeled accordingly.
Students will now begin designing their front and backyard landscaping. They can research the different designs for ideas and sketch out on graph paper, or CAD computer program, the architectural layout. Make sure that they label and color each part of their landscaping.
Next, students will think about what type of futuristic automobile they want to own. They can research all of the special features of a car and begin to draw out their designs or use CAD to sketch it out. Have them color it and label any special features they want their car to have.
After all of their research and architectural designs have been completed (make sure all labels and coloring is neat and legible), students will proudly present their Dream Big STEM Unit to the class.
Assessment
3. The student’s presentation to the class of their Dare to Dream Big Unit.
Differentiation
Students may ask their table group or neighbor that they sit next to any questions for clarification.
Once teacher has given the hands on assignment, students may ask the teacher questions for clarification one-to-one.
If students have any questions throughout the presentation, students may raise hand to ask teacher.
Extension/Enrichment
Students may design an additional rooms or features to add on to their dream home.
Students may want to research some of the best architectural designed homes in the world and share their findings with the class.
Students may research some of the most exotic futuristic automobiles and share their findings with the class.