Parents, Educators & Engineers

Educator's Guide

Organized by theme, the Educator's Guide has 10 activities focused on electricity, force and energy, structures, and simple machines.

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You may download the entire DESIGN SQUAD Educator's Guide or in the following sections:

Front and Back Covers

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Educator's Guide Introduction

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Learn about the design process, how to set up a Design Squad club, and resources to help you lead engineering challenges with kids.

Sources for Materials

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A helpful list of where to get materials for each challenge.

Unit 1: It's Electric

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Kids design and wire up two devices and put them through some rigorous (and fun) testing.

Unit 2: Cars, Cars, Cars

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Kids build three cars, using the design process to turn their ideas into reality.

Unit 3: Blowin' in the Wind

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Kids design and build two tall towers and learn what makes structures strong and stable.

Unit 4: Kick Start

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Kids design and build two machines that can reliably carry out some challenging tasks.

You can also download individual challenges from the Activities section.

Content Standards

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The challenges in this guide correspond to the ITEA National Study of Technology Content Standards and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Science and Technology/Engineering Standards.