Technology, Engineering and Design Project Ideas

These worksheets address Texture and force students to look around them for texture in their world. Texture is all around us and so often gets overlooked. often students will tell me that some objects have no texture, when in fact "smooth" is a texture and that is what they really should give as an answer.  Perhaps a list of texture words would be of some help to students new to identifying and describing surfaces. For instance, you would not say that a stone is stoney. Some students fall into the trap of naming the object rather than the texture. How would you describe etching on a glass bottle or mirror?  Textures: Bumpy, Smooth, Rough, Gritty, Slick, Silky, Soft, Prickly, Fuzzy, Hard, Woven, Rigid, Jagged, Chalky, Pasty, Bristly, etc. Some textures need further explanation like woven. A woven texture could be fine or coarse.  Some textures can be summed up using another word like the stiff and prickly hairs on a pig can be described as bristly. Depending on ...

Each of us sees our own version of the same colors and in some cases, some don't see the color at all. These worksheets allow the student to understand the nature of color and start to play with the effects of color when used onw their own or paired with other colors. The last worksheet encourages studetns to consider whay companies use the colors that they do and why nature uses color to attract or repel.

Most of us live in rectagular prisms because they are cheaper to build and an irregular shapeds structure. If you were to watch the movements of a family from an aerial view you would see that they do not move in x-y paths throught their spaces during their daily routines. If we were to form walls around the spaces that enveloped their movements, they would live in amoeba shaped structures which would be quite costly to build. However, in design, allowing form to follow function is the way to go reach the best design solution. This worksheet pushes students to think about current designed items and whay they take on the 3D form that they do.

Remember now, I teach at the beach. I know, how cool is that. I get to see the sun rise every day on the ocean. So what better subject matter to draw than objects related to the beach. When testing studends on the type of line, shape and form, some students would mix up which ones were mechanical and geometric. since I started teaching sophomores that all have chemistry, they now give me answers like organic and inorganic! Yikes! Practing the use of Line: Practincing the use of Shape: Practicing the use of Form:

In an effort to get students to pay attention to detail, I have them enlarge this turtle image to the given grid using only color pencils. I forbid them to use a regular pencil to transfer the imagery. Some students start in one corner and move across the image while others start with the turtle and continue out from the center. No way is the correct way as long as the image is transfered accurately to the grid. I allow the students to start the activity in class and then ask them to complete the image within a week. No need to drag out the process. I let them keep the colored pencils that they start with and return them when they are done. Turtle Source: Wintner , Anita. Green Sea Turtle. Retrieved on 9/5/16 from        http:// physiologizing.blogspot.com /2013/03/living-life-at-sea-diving-physiology- in.html The results are astounding and range from eh to wow! This lets the students see what others are capable of and if they need to pay more atten...

I just mentioned photography, so I figure I better give you some insight to my approach with the students. One of my pet peves is when a students photographs their work or project with all kinds of noise in the background or even foreground! I have them start a slide deck on Google Slides and post their photos to a slideshow so that they have a place to put their shots and I can access the slide shows for assessing. I can add comments and redirect them in their efforts. Please note that I only have enough photography knowledge to be dangerous.  What I learned is mostly from Michael Miller, a local photogrpher, but don't blame him for any of my shortcomings. I start with the rule of thrids and send students off to take their first set of photos for homework. Again, they post these to their slide deck. Note that each of these sections below are images that you can grab and print on a full page as a handout.  I then talk about Macro Shots and send them off again to...

I have been teaching design elements and principles for years to develop the students background in design and provide needed content for the Visual and Performing Arts requirements, as our school does not offer art courses. I use a series of worksheets to get the students to practice the concepts, then they apply the concepts to photos they take. They use the photos and worksheets to start a portfolio of their work. I hope to develop a new set of design worksheets that link the deisgn principles and artchitecture. This particular activity if framed and hung in a window will act as a stained glass panel. Besides Frank Lloyd write, my other inspiration was from a sea snake that I gave a biomimicry lesson on. I will write about that activity in the near future. For now, I just wanted you to know why this panel looks like it does. Feel free to alter the assignment as you need to for your students. The purpose here was to introduce someone in Architecture, using a sea organism as ...