Description

Students explore the solar system and explain how conditions on other planets affect the design of technology to explore those planets. The unit begins with the storybook Paulo’s Parachute Mission, in which a boy named Paulo living in Brazil explores the field of Aerospace Engineering in order to design a parachute to safely retrieve fruit from a high tree. Over the course of the unit, students compare data about conditions on other planets in our solar system. They consider how a planet’s conditions would affect a parachute, and then carry out investigations to test the effect of different design variables on parachute performance. Like Paulo, students then follow the steps of the Engineering Design Process to imagine, plan, create, and improve their own parachute designs. 

Bring equity and excellence to your classroom. Engineering is Elementary, 2nd edition core program components, plus ten Resources for Diverse Learners (RDL), broaden access to engineering for English learners and students with special needs.