YES Middle School

Engineering Eco-friendly Slippers

Middle School Motion & Stability In Classrooms

Students investigate balanced and unbalanced forces with a focus on friction as they engineer an eco-friendly slipper with a safe amount of traction.

unit Overview

Students use the Engineering Design Process to design an affordable, eco-friendly slipper prototype that provides consumers with a safe amount of traction. Students learn about the force of friction between different outsole materials and vinyl flooring.

Standards Alignment

YES units align with state and national science standards, integrating seamlessly with popular middle school science curricula.

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unit Resources

Digital Resources (FREE)

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Educator Guide Pack - $69
  • Full-color print educator guide, plus multiple sets of heavy-duty reusable color-print resources (ex. vocabulary cards, materials glossaries, station signs, and student instructions) for the class.
Materials Kit - $529
  • Hands-on materials to support 24 learners.
Additional Section Kit - $179
  • Supplements Materials Kit to serve up to 24 more students.
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Unit Map

Students are introduced to engineering by designing a phone stand to solve an everyday problem.

Students learn that the disposal of shoes harms the environment and consider why synthetic materials are commonly used in shoes.

Students focus on the outsole as they investigate why traction is important and which outsole materials provide a safe amount of grip.

Students measure the relative force of friction between the outsole materials and flooring and use this data to determine what is safe.

Students brainstorm designs and consider tradeoffs between safe traction, eco-friendly materials, comfort, and cost.

Teams work together to plan and create their first slipper design.

Teams consider the role of failure in engineering as they test and evaluate their first slipper designs.

Students work in teams to plan, create, and test a slipper iteration, using the Engineering Design Process as a guide.

Students share their designs with their peers, discuss the impact their designs may have, and reflect on their engineering work.

Teacher Preparation Videos

Play Video
Lesson 1 Preparation: Model Phone
Play Video
Lesson 3 Preparation: Outsole
Play Video
Lesson 4 Preparation: Traction Test Station Part 1
Play Video
Lesson 4 Preparation: Traction Test Station Part 2

Videos for Students

Play Video
Lesson 2: The Problem
Play Video
Lesson 4: Using Data for Design Decisions
Play Video
Lesson 4: Traction Test Procedure
Play Video
Lesson 6: Making a Slipper

Our funders

Major support for this project has been provided by MathWorks.

Computer Science

User Reviews Analysis

Extend learning with this computer science module designed to be taught after Engineering Eco-friendly Slippers. Students consider how a computer could be used to analyze qualitative data collected from slipper users. Students explore and modify a simple machine learning algorithm that categorizes user reviews as positive or negative.

Explore User Reviews Analysis

Computer Science

Step Counters

Extend learning with this computer science module designed to be taught after Engineering Eco-friendly Slippers. Students consider how the durability of a product factors into its eco-friendliness and explore how a step counter could be a helpful computational tool for evaluating a slipper’s durability. They develop and build a step counting algorithm using MakeCode and iterate the algorithm to optimize it for different users.

Explore Step Counters

Computer Science Modules

YES Computer Science modules engage K-8 students in computational thinking by framing computer science through the authentic context of engineering design. Students experience how engineers use computational tools to increase efficiency and accuracy, using low-cost devices such as micro:bits, or free web-based tools such as Teachable Machine and MATLAB interactives from MathWorks. The modules encourage students to decompose and investigate algorithms to recognize their social context, benefits, and potential limitations.

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