Hands-on Activity: Engineer a Coin Sorter
Educational Standards :
Pre-Req Knowledge (Return to Contents)
Students should be able to accurately measure the diameters of the coins.
Learning Objectives (Return to Contents)
After this activity, students should be able to:
Materials List (Return to Contents)
Each group needs:
For the whole class to share:
Introduction/Motivation (Return to Contents)
(Hand out the What Do You Think? Pre-Assessment Worksheet and have students individually complete it before beginning the activity.)
A group of students ran a lemonade stand on their block all summer long. They called their company Cold & Tasty and charged 58 cents a glass. They accumulated buckets of change. Cold & Tasty wants to hire you as aspiring engineers to design a coin sorter to help them sort their buckets of change.
(Bring out a really large jar of coins.) Who wants to sort this jar of change?
(Divide the class into groups of two or three students each. Give each group a handful of change and ask them to sort and count it using a reliable method. Ask them to summarize their processes [how they did it] on blank paper or whiteboards.)
How would we go about designing a device to automatically sort these coins for us? (Use this as an introduction to the design process. Draw the engineering design process diagram on the board.)
As engineers, we first ask what the problem is and then imagine solutions. Next, we plan our design by drawing it out on paper and building it. Engineers always try to improve their designs so we will test our coin sorters and improve our designs to provide our customer, Cold & Tasty, with the best product possible.
(Bring out buckets of coins from Cold & Tasty.) Today, you're going to "put on your engineering hats," and design devices to sort the change for Cold & Tasty. Let's get started.
Vocabulary/Definitions (Return to Contents)
Procedure (Return to Contents)
Engineers use the engineering design process to invent and improve technologies, objects and systems. The engineering design process includes five basic and important steps:
Before the Activity
With the Students
1. Have students complete the Pre-Assessment Worksheet (as described in the Assessment section).
2. Divide the class into groups of two or three students each.
3. Conduct the Introduction/Motivation section. Bring out a really large jar of coins, saying "Who wants to sort this jar of change?" Engage the students in the simple sorting activity by asking each group to sort and count a handful of change. Ask students to summarize their processes (how they did it) on blank paper or whiteboards.
4. Introduce the design cycle. Draw the engineering design process diagram on the board. Explain that the engineering design process consists of five basic steps and is used by engineers around the world to invent and improve products, technologies, objects and systems that we use every day.
5. Bring out buckets of coins from Cold & Tasty. Ask students to "put on their engineer hats" to design devices that can reliably and quickly sort the change.
6. The first step is to identify the problem. What is the problem we are trying to solve with the coin sorter? Tell students to spend about five minutes with their group asking each other what the problem is they are trying to solve. Have them imagine various solutions by talking about their ideas.
7. Hand out one math worksheet to each student. Have students prepare for their design by measuring the sizes of the various coins. Have them figure out which measurements they will need, make the measurements and record them on the worksheet. (The worksheet asks students to calculate the differences between measurements. Some students may require prompting that "difference" means subtraction.)
8. Hand out one design worksheet to each student. Explain that the worksheet contains two sides: the front is to be completed BEFORE building begins and the back is to be completed AFTER the coin-sorter has been built.
9. Have students complete the front of the worksheet by planning their coin sorters. Have them share ideas and draw their designs with labels indicating material choices. Allow enough time (~15-20 minutes) for students to complete detailed drawings.
10. While students are working, ask the following questions to the groups:
11. Be sure students have completed drawings before handing out materials.
12. Direct groups to begin creating their designs. Encourage students to test their designs during the building process.
13. Once students are done building their coin sorters, have them test and improve their designs.
14. Allow enough time for students to complete the worksheet (back side) and clean up.
15. Conclude with the post-activity assessments (see Assessment section) — individual design cycle reflections and class presentations by groups.
Attachments (Return to Contents)
Troubleshooting Tips (Return to Contents)
Students new to the design process often get hung up on what "it" is going to look like (form) before they focus on how "it" works (functions). Address this if you see it happening. Use guiding questions to prompt students to focus on function—form follows function. Aesthetics is an important part of the design process, but no one wants a "pretty" product that does not perform.
Students also often forget about the iterative nature of design. Engineers go through many brainstorm-create-test-improve cycles before arriving at a final product.
The diameters of the different coins have minimal variation (at the mm level). But, if students use size to sort the coins, they must be precise; otherwise, they might run into the problem of larger coins plugging up the smaller holes. Help them trouble shoot this issue. Doing this is all part of the engineering process, so it can be a great teaching moment.
Assessment (Return to Contents)
Accessing Prior Knowledge: Have students complete the What Do You Think? Pre-Assessment Worksheet. Use this assessment to understand students' ideas about how everyday products are designed by engineers. It is not meant to test whether or not students can memorize and recite the steps of the engineering design cycle.
Activity Embedded Assessment
Worksheet: Have students complete the front of the Engineer a Coin Sorter Design Worksheet before they begin building and the back of the worksheet after they have built their coin sorters, to document their activity. Review their answers to gauge their mastery of the subject.
Design Cycle Reflection: What steps do engineers take to design new products? Write (or draw)—in your own words—the steps engineers take. For each step, write one sentence about why that step helps engineers create better products. The goal of this assessment is identify student thinking about the design process. Probe them to express their experiences and ideas about the process rather than parroting back the exact language of the design process steps. (Possible answers: Engineers first identify the problem or need they are solving and ask what has already been done to make sure they learn everything they can about the issues, and to not re-invent the wheel. Then they brainstorm (or imagine) as many options as possible to incorporate ideas from many points-of-view so as to increase creativity and innovation. Next, engineers pick the best solution and plan their designs. Planning leads to smart use of materials, time and funding, thereby increasing efficiency and helping to optimize performance under these constraints. After they plan, engineers iteratively create and improve. Testing makes sure it works and brings up problems and issues that weren't thought of before. Many iterations help to make the final product a better product.)
Class Presentation: Have students discuss the following topics within their groups. Assign one topic to each group and have students present their answers to the class.
Activity Extensions (Return to Contents)
Encourage students to make a "business" using their coin sorters. Have students offer to sort a parent, sibling, neighbor or friend's loose change jar. Students could "charge" a 5% fee on however much money they count with their sorters. Ask students who do this activity extension to report their results to the class.
Activity Scaling (Return to Contents)
References (Return to Contents)
Coin Sorter. Activities from the Show, Engineering: Design It, ZOOM by kids, for kids, PBS Kids. Accessed February 3, 2010. (activity inspiration) http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/coinsorter.html
The Engineering Design Process. Engineering is Elementary, Boston Museum of Science, Boston, MA. Accessed February 17, 2010. http://www.mos.org/eie/engineering_design.php
ContributorsMegan Schroeder, Stephanie Rivale
Copyright© 2009 by by Regents of the University of Colorado. The contents of these digital library curricula were developed by the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program under National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
Supporting Program (Return to Contents)Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder
Last Modified: February 24, 2011