Socially Engaged Engineering: Situate the Problem in a Societal Context

Students engage in real-world engineering challenges that expand their horizons while connecting to their lives, communities, and cultures. Activities begin with narratives that demonstrate how engineers shape our world by solving problems. As students progress through their engineering journeys, they…

  • make personal connections to the problem.
  • think about how the problem impacts their own community.
  • connect the problem to a broader societal issue.

“What’s the Problem?”

Kindergarten students interact with the read–aloud story of Shandíín and Trung, who engineer a sun hat to keep cool on the playground. Watch & Reflect:

Related Engineering Practices: Consider Problems in Context, Communicate Effectively, Identify as Engineers
Featured Unit: Engineering Sun Hats

Reflection Questions

Students may have experience being outside when it is too hot, or having the sun shine in their faces on the playground.

In some parts of the world, being too hot is not a problem, but students may still have experienced uncomfortable glare in their eyes from the sun or water. Students may also come up with other ways their community solves the problem, such as using an umbrella. Ask students why a hat is most helpful for Shandíín and Trung’s context (because they need their hands to play).

“Getting Lost in the Yunques”

A group of students share how they or people close to them have also experienced the problem. Watch & Reflect:

Related Engineering Practices: Consider Problems in Context, Communicate Effectively
Featured Unit: Engineering Rescue Shuttles

Reflection Questions

Every community will have some way that people need rescuing. Communities experience different natural disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes. Here, students relate to getting lost when hiking and need rescuing. Your students may not be familiar with hiking but can connect with other situations in which they have been lost or stranded, such as a broken-down car or taking shelter from a rainstorm.

Sharing personal stories allowed students to connect with the context of the design challenge and to build community with each other in the classroom.

“Why Is Environmental Impact Important?”

Students discuss how environmental impact is important to their design. Watch & Reflect:

Related Engineering Practices: Consider Problems in Context, Communicate Effectively, Assess Implications of Solutions
Featured Unit: Designing Solar Ovens

Reflection Questions

If your design was used by everyone in the class how would it help or harm the environment? What happens to your design after it’s done being used? Are there materials you chose not to use because they had more environmental impact? What were the tradeoffs in making that decision?

Connect with your local waste management services. They can often share data on what is collected, what is hard to break down, and what can be recycled in your community. They may also be able to video conference or visit the classroom. Have students brainstorm users or contexts in the community that could use solar ovens in helpful ways, such as camping in nearby parks, grilling at home, or when it’s extremely hot outside and turning on the oven would increase electricity use to cool the kitchen. Discuss with students where a solar oven would not work in your community. Who might not benefit from using this design?