Lesson Idea | Surviving Storm Surge

Description

This lesson introduces students to how wind and water can change land and affect homes. After watching Dream Big, students learn that engineers design buildings to stay strong during storms and flooding. Students explore what causes floods and how people protect homes near water. Then, working in pairs, they plan and build a simple paper house and test it by placing it on a playdough coast and adding water. By observing what happens, students compare different design ideas and think about how to improve their models so homes can better withstand flooding.

Standards

NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas
2-ESS1-1 The History of Planet Earth
Some events happen very quickly; others occur
very slowly, over a time period much longer than
one can observe.
2-ESS2.A Earth’s Materials and Systems
Wind and water can change the shape of the land.
2-ESS2-1
Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or
prevent wind or water from changing the shape of
the land.

NGSS Engineering Practices
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
Because there is always more than one possible
solution to a problem, it is useful to compare and test
designs.