Engineering Practice: Work Effectively in Teams

Most engineers work in teams. Collaborating, communicating, critiquing, and negotiating with people who bring diverse expertise and experiences strengthen engineering thinking and solutions.

“I’m a Make a Big Brim!”

Kindergarten students in the Ask phase of the Engineering Design Process explore what makes a good hat brim before designing their sun hats. Watch & Reflect:

Reflection Questions

  1. Be intentional about grouping students—how can the strengths of all students be used effectively and how can students’ strengths support each other? Set expectations at the start of the year or unit on being a good collaborator and teammate.
  2. Scaffold collaboration by assigning roles and responsibilities to each team member or have students self-assign within their groups.
  3. Review the provided sentence frames and practice using them with students, giving examples of how you might complete the sentences. 

  1. Can you tell me about how your brim will shade your head?
  2. What brim shapes have you talked about in your group?
  3. Great, your brim is working! Can you find other shapes that also shade your head?
  4. Have students walk around the classroom to observe other groups’ brim shapes.  

Related Practices: Communicate Effectively, Balance Criteria and Constraints, Explore Properties and Uses of Materials
Featured Unit: Engineering Sun Hats