K"NEX CHALLENGE                           Spring 2025          

Students will work to construct a solution to the K"NEX CHALLENGE and present solution to a group of their gifted peers.

Students will use their gifted support class time and time at home to research and build their presentations for the  challenge.

Essential Question: What components do I want to include in my build?

Materials Needed: K"Nex Kits, Chromebooks and Internet, paper/pencil, Display Boards, if desired.

 

February/March

Standard - CC.1.3.5.J

Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal contrast, addition, and other logical relationships.

 

International Technology & Engineering Educators Association Standards

Students will develop an understanding of: THE CHARACTERISTICS AND SCOPE OF TECHNOLOGY

• New products and systems can be developed to solve problems or to help do things that could not be done without the help of technology. • The development of technology is a human activity and is the result of individual or collective needs and the ability to be creative. • Technology is closely linked to creativity, which has resulted in innovation. THE CORE CONCEPTS OF TECHNOLOGY • Technological systems include input, process, output, and, at times, feedback. • Systems thinking involves considering how every part relates to others. • Technological systems can be connected to one another. • Requirements are the parameters placed on the development of a product or system. • Different technologies involve different sets of processes. RELATIONSHIPS AMONG TECHNOLOGIES & THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY & OTHER FIELDS OF STUDY • Technological systems often interact with one another. • Knowledge gained from other fields of study has a direct effect on the development of technological products and systems. THE CULTURAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND POLITICAL EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY • Decisions about the use of products and systems can result in desirable or undesirable consequences. THE ATTRIBUTES OF DESIGN • Design is a creative planning process that leads to useful products and systems. • There is no perfect design. • Requirements for design are made up of criteria and constraints. ENGINEERING DESIGN • Design involves a set of steps, which can be performed in different sequences and repeated as needed. • Brainstorming is a group problem-solving design process in which each person in the group presents his or her ideas in an open forum. • Modeling, testing, evaluating, and modifying are used to transform ideas into practical solutions. THE ROLE OF TROUBLESHOOTING, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, INVENTION & INNOVATION, AND EXPERIMENTATION IN PROBLEM SOLVING • Invention is the process of turning ideas & imagination into devices and systems. Innovation is the process of modifying an existing product or system to improve it. • Some technological problems are best solved through experimentation. THE ABILITIES TO APPLY THE DESIGN PROCESS • Apply a design process to solve problems in and beyond the laboratory-classroom • Specify criteria and constraints for the design • Make two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations of the designed solution. • Test and evaluate the design in relation to pre-established requirements, such as criteria and constraints, and refine as needed. • Make a product or system and document the solution.

Standard - CC.1.5.5.F