Architectural Design 1 Model

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Lesson Plan Industry Sector
Engineering & Design

Lesson Plan Originally Created By: Brian Atwater

Put a car in the garage

Part of Unit: Special Projects-Beginning Level

Lesson Plan Overview / Details

NOTE TO TEACHERS - In this lesson I have the videos placed on the school's server.  Students then watch the videos, and pause the video as necessary, on their computer.  The students will need to use a computer with a pair of headphones to listen, and follow the directions, for completing the lesson.  The students save their files to their folder for grading.  You'll need the following software for this lesson:           1) Excel. 2) SketchUp.  3) PowerPoint.

 

  In this lesson students will gather dimensions about their dream car, then design a garage for their car.  Students will use spreadsheet software to enter in data, calculate dimensions, and make infrences to their garage's size. Students will also use 3D software to design their garage.  Finally, they will choose a country, that uses the metric system, to build a copy of their garage thereby converting their American (English units) garage into a Foriegn country (Metric units) garage.  Students will be using Excel, SketchUp, and PowerPoint to complete this lesson.  There's a video that show the step by step process for entering and creating this project.  Higher end students will enjoy the challenge of this assignment, while Special Ed student will need teacher assistance with these many steps. 

Lesson Time

2 - 4 Class periods (depending on the speed of the students)
2 - 4 Days

Objectives and Goals

  • Find a car's measurements.
  • Enter data, and program, spreadsheet software.
  • Draw a 3D object with dimensions.
  • Convert English to Metric measurements.
  • Create a presentation to showcase their work.

Activities in this Lesson

  • What do these pictures have in common? - Hooks / Set

    TEACHER - Show this Powerpoint show to the students.

    The teacher plays this PowerPoint presentation to the students. The students are instructed to think about what problem these vehicles have in this environment.  The teacher then asks for a response that should be something like "The garage is too small".  The teacher then instructs how these photos illustrate a problem that needs to be fixed. 

    • Vehicles in garage [ Download ] PowerPoint slide show - 3 slides that continuously loop
  • Gather your car's dimensions. - Lab / Shop

    TEACHERS - This part of the lesson can be used to extend/reduce class time.   To extend time, have the students do an internet search for their choice of car. To reduce time give the students a choice of a few cars that you have preselected.

     

       The students need to get the dimensions of a car of their choice. They'll need the:  Width, Height, and Length of their car.   In the spreadsheet I enter the car's; Year, Make, and Model then add the car's dimensions.  Students will watch the video, then pause it and enter in their data.  The video then shows how to program the cells to calculate converting inches to feet and meters.  When completed, the students will have the dimensions for their car as well as the garage door. 

    • Instructions for entering data of a car's dimensions [ Watch Video ] [ Download Original Video ] This Quicktime video (about 8 minutes) shows how to enter data into Excel
  • Create your garage. - Lab / Shop

    Now that the students have the dimensions of their garage, they will now create a visual model of it.  In this activity, students again will watch the video on their computer,, to make the garage.  The students will use SketchUp software to draw and dimension their garage.  

    • Instruction on how to make a garage on SketchUp [ Watch Video ] [ Download Original Video ] This Quicktime video (just over 6:30 minutes) shows how to design a garage in SketchUp.
  • Create a presentation of your garage. - Lab / Shop

       Students now take the data & design and showcase it in a PowerPoint presentation.  The video instructs students on how to create a slide show with 4 scenes.  Student will need access to the internet to get a photo of their chosen car and a map of their chosen country.

    • Instructions for designing your PowerPoint presentation [ Watch Video ] [ Download Original Video ] This Quicktime video (just over 6 minutes) shows how to design the PowerPoint presentation
  • Clean Up - Closure

    Students save their projects, even if they are not finished.  Once the students have loged off of their computers, they help other students save their projects

Assessment

Assessment Types:
Projects, Observations,

When the students have completed this lesson, they will save the following documents to their computer's folder.  Next to these documents are the suggested percentage for the grade.

1) Excel - Car & Garage dimensions.  (50%)

2) SketchUp - 3D model of their garage with dimensions.  (0%) (this image is duplicated in the PowerPoint slide #b,  see below)

3) PowerPoint - Four slides showing;

                            a) Their car.  (0%)  (this task is too easy to be graded)

                            b) Their garage.  (25%)

                            c) Their chosen City, Country.  (12.5%)

                            d) The metric dimensions, of their garage, in their chosen country.  (12.5%)