Simple pyramids
Maybe you have heard this advice before: "The three most important factors of any real estate are location, location, location." There are many considerations in choosing a location. Can you imagine? During this unit, we are going to get a taste of how difficult that massive undertaking was as we design and build a pyramid, as if we were living in ancient times.īuilding a pyramid is a huge project, so let's take it step by step. Instead of using today's automated, high-powered tools, trucks and cranes, they used simple machines and the hard labor of many people. How did people move the massive 9,000 to 18,000 kilogram stones (equals 10-20-tons or one to two elephants!) into position? How were they arranged into such a precise and beautiful shape? It would be an incredibly complicated project to build the pyramids today, even with modern equipment and technology, but think about how difficult it must have been to do it 8,000 years ago. The construction of the pyramids was an amazing feat, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Imagine that you are living in 6,000 BCE and have been hired as chief engineers for a pyramid building project. International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology People's needs and wants change over time, as do their demands for new and improved technologies. Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account. The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). This activity focuses on the following Three Dimensional Learning aspects of NGSS:ĭefine a simple design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process, or system and includes several criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.Īlignment agreement: Thanks for your feedback! List different factors and considerations that affect a decision, prioritize them, and decide among competing factors.ĭefine a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.Ĭlick to view other curriculum aligned to this Performance Expectation.Evaluate how some early decisions affect later choices in the design process.Provide examples of how engineers are faced with many choices when deciding on a final design.Engineers' choice of a site may involve trade-offs, because even though a site does not meet all requirements, is still may be the best of all the available options.Īfter this activity, students should be able to: Site characteristics might include its topography and material composition, its distance and accessibility to construction resources, and its suitability for the structure's purpose. They determine the ideal site characteristics required for the structure and compare the features of each available site.
This engineering curriculum aligns to Next Generation Science Standards ( NGSS).Įngineers use their critical thinking skills to evaluate potential building site locations before structures are built. They base their decision on site features as provided by a surveyor's report distance from the quarry, river and palace and other factors they deem important to the project based on their team's values and priorities.
Working in engineering project teams, students evaluate sites for the construction of a pyramid.