The Arizona STEM Acceleration Project

“If I Built A Car”– A Car Designing Activity

“If I Built A Car”– A Car Designing Activity

A 5^th Grade STEM Lesson

Jeremie Gallardo

May 5, 2023

Notes for teachers

• This is a 90-minute lesson.
• This hands- on activity is best done in groups (preferably, three students in a group).
• The book can be read by the teacher or can be viewed as a video. The teacher can pause to discuss some parts of the story.
• There are car designing kits that may be bought from various places. Some of the places to purchase them are:

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• https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/stem/building-engineering/design-play-steam-cars-kit/p/TT571/
• https://www.amazon.com/build-your-own-car-kit-kids/s?k=build+your+own+car+kit+for+kids

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List of Materials

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• A copy of “If I Built a Car” – Read aloud kids’ book by Chris Van Dusen
• Graphic Organizers on Car Designing
• Video Presentation on the safest cars for children
• Rubric for car design blueprint rubric
• Rubric for car design oral presentation
• Activity Sheet
• Rubric

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Standards

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Standards

Physical Science

5.P3U2.5

Define problems and design solutions pertaining to force and motion

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Reading Standards for Literature

5.RL.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details of the text; include how characters in the story or drama respond to challenges, how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic, and a summary of the text.

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Craft and Structure

5.RI.4 Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.

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Speaking and Listening Standards

Comprehension and Collaboration

5.SL.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

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Standards

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Standards

Mathematical Practices

5.MP.1

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Mathematically proficient students explain to themselves the meaning of a problem, look for entry points to begin work on the problem, and plan and choose a solution pathway. While engaging in productive struggle to solve a problem, they continually ask themselves, “Does this make sense?" to monitor and evaluate their progress and change course if necessary.

Once they have a solution, they look back at the problem to determine if the solution is reasonable and accurate. Mathematically proficient students check their solutions to problems using different methods, approaches, or representations. They also compare and understand different representations of problems and different solution pathways, both their own and those of others.

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Objectives:

Today, the learners will:

• read and understand the story “If I Built a Car”.
• define vocabulary words that are related to car designing.
• determining what an automotive designer does. (career focus)
• examine how understanding force and motion can save lives.
• create a design blueprint that minimizes damage to children during car crashes.
• present the car design blueprint orally.

Agenda (90 minutes)

• ENGAGE:
• Read- Aloud: “If I Built a Car” by Chris Van Dusen (8 minutes)
• Unpacking of Vocabulary Words (2 minutes)
• Discussion about the story (5 minutes)– make sure to emphasize safety
• EXPLORE: Experiment on Newton’s Laws of Force and Motion in relation to car crashes (5 minutes)
• EXPLAIN: Discussion on how understanding Newton’s Laws of force and motion can help in car safety (25 minutes)

• ELABORATE:
• Determining what an automobile designer does (5 minutes)
• Discussion of the rubric for grading the designs and the automobile design graphic organizer (5 minutes)
• Car Designing: Blueprint Making (20 minutes)
• EVALUATE: Design Presentation and Critiquing (15 minutes)

Anticipatory Set

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• You Complete Me Activity: Complete the statement, “I love cars so much I want to ___________________________”.

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• Using Padlet, ask the students to complete the statement.
• Even when the students do not like cars, they can find a way to complete the statement that can signal that they don’t love cars. (An example can be “I love cars so much I want to not buy one.”
• Allow the students to be as creative as possible with their answers.

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• Read and discuss the story, If I Built a Car

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Hands-on Activity Instructions

• Group the students into groups of 3.
• Explain the rubric for grading the blueprint of their car design and their oral presentation.
• Explain that they will create a blueprint of their car design with major consideration on the safety of child passengers in relation to Newton’s Laws of force and motion.
• Explain the worksheet where they may be placing the blueprint. Please note that the goal of the design should focus more on ensuring the safety of child passengers. The teacher can also create her own worksheet.

Assessment

• At the end of the car designing process, the student will present their work. This will ensure that the students understood the discussion on the safety features of their design. Moreover, they will showcase their knowledge of Newton’s Laws of Force and Motion as they defend why their design is the safest design.
• The outputs would be graded through a car design blueprint rubric and an oral presentation rubric.

Differentiation

• For students who may need this, the teacher may modify the worksheet by putting various parts and allowing the student to move the parts around.
• Videos may also be shown to students so they can have a better understanding of the lesson.
• With teacher supervision, the strategic and intentional grouping may be used for students to peer teach the lesson.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

• The students may be tasked to create a prototype of their car design. This prototype can then be tested through an experiment called the Crash Test Car. The video below can be used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYkoaK1iOtM

• The students may also present their findings from the Crash Test Car experiment.

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