This is a project idea that I had when thinking of how to prep my students for building complex structures in class. The major difference between myself and my students when designing products is that I have more experience in material types and what they are good for. I was thinking about how to bridge this gap at the beginning of a semester and landed on this project.
Students will perform stress tests, also called failure analyses, on a selected material and document their experimentation in a video. Then groups will switch materials and make a summary page for a different material. In the end we will publish these in a Material Usage Guide for the students and school to reference when designing things.
"The challenge is to be clear about what mathematical ideas the students are to learn and understand from their work on the task, not just what they will do." -Jo Boaler
"Teaching is not about information. It's about having an honest intellectual relationship with your students" -Paul Lockhart