Explore Possibilities
Work with your STEM team to explore different ideas.
Now that you have examined your challenge, brainstormed ideas and identified the constraints you are working with, it is time to start exploring some possibilities for creating your healthier, happier meal.
Real-world challenges like this incorporate content and skills from multiple disciplines. Read about each discipline listed below to learn how skills and knowledge from these areas can help you solve this challenge.
Mathematics
You will look at nutrition guidelines for children and determine an appropriate number of calories for your children's meal. Next, you will analyze nutrition data from a sampling of national fast food children's meals.
Biology
You will conduct macromolecule testing on a sample fast food meal. As a part of this lab activity, you will analyze data, draw conclusions and communicate findings.
Health/Social Studies
You will investigate the global nature of the obesity crisis and will look at fast food in different cultures.
Consumer Science
You will develop and test your children's meal with an authentic audience and gather feedback.
Art
You will design visually appealing packaging for your children's meal.
Teacher Note
Students will consider how they may explore other disciplines in completing their challenge. You may introduce the next few activities in your own class, work with teachers of other disciplines, or arrange to have students take on some of the work in other classes and report back.
Essential Questions
- How can the engineering design process be used to develop solutions to real-world problems?
