Engineering Litter Collectors

In this lesson, students apply what they know about the external structures of different animals to design a prototype to pick up litter. Students act as engineers as they go through the complete engineering process of designing, testing, and evaluating a prototype to solve a problem.  

• The biggest difference between scientists and engineers is that while scientists begin with a question they want to answer, engineers begin with a problem they want to solve.
• Engineers sometimes use what they know about the structures of living things to help them design technologies.

• What do engineers do?
• What are some examples of technologies in our everyday lives that solve problems?
• Why do engineers design prototypes first?
• How does the shape of the eagle’s claw make it useful to mimic (copy) in a technology for picking up trash?
• How does the shape of a beak make it able to pick up things?

Misconception: Technologies never mimic nature because engineers need to come up with completely new ideas to solve problems.

Fact: Many engineers look to nature, including the structures of plants and animals, to help them design technologies that solve problems.

Beak : the hard, pointed body part that sticks out of a bird’s face

Claw : a body part at the end of an animal’s toes that is sharp and curved

Engineer : anyone who uses scientific knowledge and mathematics to solve a problem by creating new technologies

Mimic : to copy

Prototype : a smaller version of what will be engineered

Thorn : ta hard, sharp part of a plant that sticks out of a plant’s roots, stem, or leaves

Solving a Problem

Miguel is designing a game. He wants to create a game where players try to pick up a toy inside a closed box.

Miguel is an engineer. Engineers solve problems. This is different from scientists. Scientists answer questions. Engineers create new technologies. A technology is anything that people make to meet their needs and wants.

Looking to Nature

Miguel’s problem is how to pick up toys in the game. Engineers use scientific knowledge to help them solve the problem.

Miguel can mimic an animal or plant’s body parts to solve the problem. To mimic means to copy. Miguel knows that eagles use their claws to catch fish. He sees that claws are good at picking up many different shapes.

Miguel also knows that some birds use their beaks to pick up things. He sees that the shape of the beak affects what the bird can pick up. And Miguel knows that a plant’s thorns can pierce some things.

After looking at claws, beaks, and thorns, Miguel decides to design a solution that mimics a bird’s claw to pick up toys. Miguel builds a prototype of his design solution. A prototype is a first draft. It is a smaller version of the final technology.

In this lesson, students will engage as engineers to design and test a prototype of a litter collector. Students summarize a problem presented in an engineering scenario, which is that someone needs a way to pick up litter from the ground without touching it with their hands. Students draw a visual model of two possible solutions to the problem. They then choose one of the solutions and draw a scientific diagram of it, using their diagram as a guide for creating their litter collector prototype. Once students build their litter collector prototype, they test it to determine how well it solved the problem, meeting the requirements of the problem within the constraints. Finally, students communicate their results to the class, drawing conclusions about how people can solve problems with technology.