Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Thought experiment for design thinking - The paper umbrella

20 minutes

Find Out: What are the competing factors in the design of pipes?

20 minutes

Take Action: Pipe assessment

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Thought experiment for design thinking - The paper umbrella

Step 1. Here is a fun little thought experiment to get students into a design-thinking mindset. It's called 'the paper umbrella'.

Discuss the following with students :

Would it be a good idea to build an umbrella out of paper? Why, or why not?

Talk about how the material wouldn't be appropriate for the task it's being asked to do. The moment the paper gets wet - which happens to umbrellas a lot - it starts to disintegrate into a big blob of paper-mâché and becomes pretty much useless for protecting the umbrella user.

Also, talk about the sustainability of this kind of design - you'd have to keep making the umbrella again and again after every use, which would use up a lot of materials.

You might also talk about how the paper would be a difficult material to work with when designing an umbrella. An umbrella canvas has to be able to turn rigid and cover a wide area when it's in its 'open' mode, but it also has to fold down small when it's 'closed'. The material has to be strong enough to sustain these changes constantly but light enough that it's not a pain to lug around. Is paper going to be able to meet both of these demands?

As is probably obvious, paper might not be the most suitable material for this design. However, it's important to understand the range of considerations designers have to take into account when designing a product, and these considerations are often competing (i.e., umbrellas need a material that can be both rigid and flexible - polar opposite requirements!)

Step 2. Now discuss:

What is the best material for pipes?

You don't have to answer this question yet, but you might like to throw around some initial ideas. Where students have completed previous lessons in this unit, remind them of what they already know about pipes. You can remind students not to get stuck on one idea. As good material designers, we're going to test all possibilities rigorously.

Find Out: What are the competing factors in the design of pipes?

Step 1. Explain to students that to compare materials, we need to know what it is we're designing for.

Take a moment to think about why we need pipes in our houses and schools by sharing the following image:

Notes:

Where students haven't completed any previous lessons in this unit, you could also introduce the 6th Goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. You can stress the importance of clean water and sanitation and how they relate to pipes - you could invite students to take a moment to imagine what life would be like without pipes.
You can also introduce the 12th Goal: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. This reminds us of the need to think carefully about the materials we use, where they come from and how they can be recycled. More information about pipes and recycling can be found here. This will introduce students to the circular economy concept and how it relates to recycling.

Step 2. In small groups, students will imagine they are material designers tasked with creating a new pipe. They will be asked to think critically to create a list of wants and needs for a new pipe design.

They can write up these demands as a list of dot points using the spaces provided on the Student Worksheet.

This link could help students identify needs and wants: PIPA - Engineered Products Designed to last

You might like to direct the discussion as follows (these points could also be used for students requiring provisional learning support):

NEEDS - We need the pipe to be:

watertight (so it doesn't leak) and so things don't get into the pipes
chemical proof
safe for drinking water
durable (so it lasts a long time)
easy to repair
recyclable
meets Australian standards.

WANTS - We want the pipe to be:

long-lasting
robust
lightweight
resist abrasion
don’t corrode
ease of handling and installation
flexible
smooth internal bore.

CIRCULARITY (Using products that are designed for long life, minimal maintenance, can be reused or repaired and at the end of their life can be recycled?) - How can we make sure our pipes don't harm the environment:

When they're being designed?
When they're in use?
When thinking about how they can be reused?

MANUFACTURING AND INSTALLATION - Remember that it's not all about the pipes. What would be helpful when making and installing the pipes? We might like them to be:

not too heavy otherwise more heavy equipment needs to be used
not too difficult to manufacture as we need to try and reduce the carbon footprint
minimum maintenance or repair methods available
minimum cost.

Note: Ensure that you discuss why initial capital and operational costs are essential aspects of production and manufacturing. Lower initial cost means more can be done with the same amount of money which is more efficient. Low operational cost reduces pumping energy and demands on scarce and costly human resources.

Take Action: Pipe assessment

Step 1. Using the points above, students create a rubric that will allow them to compare different materials.

Differentiation: It is up to you to decide how complex you might require this rubric to be. Students might like to use a simple rating system (1 - 5), or they might produce more qualitative scores, as seen below.

Note: If you are planning to do other lessons in this unit, it would be useful for students to create their rubrics on a device so that they can adjust, adapt and print in other lessons.

Step 2. Each group could then test their rubric using the idea of paper pipes (in reference to the paper umbrellas explored at the start of this lesson). Students should record the score they got for paper pipes. These can be shared with the class.

Step 3. Once complete, invite each group to collaborate with another group to share their rubrics. Encourage students to make kind and helpful suggestions around how the rubrics could be improved. Allow students time to improve their rubrics.

Reflection

Based on what you have looked at in this lesson, invite students to work independently to think about what materials they would suggest would be best for pipes. They could record their answers on the Student Worksheet. They should try to justify their answers.

Differentiation

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance to positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Digging into Sustainable Pipes

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