Summary
This project infuses engineering and physics into everyday life and engages students in predicting future technologies that could impact society and the quality of life. Teams of 3-4 students select a current-day technology and describe how that technology will evolve in 20 years. Teamwork and planning is as important as creativity in this project. Students choose a leader for their group and the leader is held accountable for his performance. Students also cooperate to choose their technological advance and predict/describe its impact on future generations. This team concept prepares students for cooperation and leadership in the workplace. The teams provide a historical overview of the current technology and the scientific principles involved. Then, they create a vision, artifact and presentation regarding what the technology will look like in 20 years.
TIPC Ratings
All student teams research the historical background on a present-day technology including the initial “invention”, its’ impact on quality of life & economy. They also research the breakthroughs in technology that were needed to bring the initial invention to its’ present-day development and status. Students use Noodle Tools as their research platform for this project.
Students formulate their own groups of 3-4 and set norms for the completion of the project. The team/group leader ultimately has the most responsibility; however, all team members are required to cooperate with the leader, support the leader, collaborate and communicate within their group (see Google doc screen shot). This process is explained in phase two above. The team leader creates individual folders for each team member in Google docs for all team member submissions. A discussion board is also set-up for live collaboration. The group leader merges and edits all of the individual contributions into one collaborative project/presentation. Team members select an appropriate digital tool to create their presentation on the future of technology 20 years from now.
All team members must deeply consider all the implications (positive and negative) that a new technology may bring to future life. Their “invention” must be within reasonable engineering capabilities and they must describe technological breakthroughs that must occur before their product comes to market. Each team analyzes, evaluates and scrutinizes the technology idea presented by each member to determine its merit, value and benefit to future generations.
Each team will select a technology that is present in everyday life. Anything from a pencil to TiVo. They will explore what the technology does, how it works, when, why, and how it was developed. They will then project into the future as to what the technology could be like 20 years from now. This project has very little teacher guidance as to their group dynamics and creativity, but is rigidly guided by a framework that ensures group cooperation.
Student Artifact
Download Files
- Lesson Plan
- Rubric for Project
- Google Docs Screen Shots
- Google Docs Links
- Student work samples
