Learning Targets
- Create a final sketch with enough dimensions and labels to guide fabrication.
- Plan how each provided material will be used.
- Create a logical construction sequence before cutting materials.
IED Unit 0 • Lesson 0.6
Develop the Design
Focus Question: How can a detailed plan turn an idea into a buildable prototype?
Your lesson guide
Objective
Create a final sketch with enough dimensions and labels to guide fabrication. Plan how each provided material will be used. Create a logical construction sequence before cutting materials.
Materials
Suggested pacing: 1 × 45-minute class period
Plan your time
Suggested work block: 45–60 minutes. Physical builds and projects may span several classes; follow your teacher’s schedule.
Mission Briefing
Today’s Plan
Every task advances the same Rocket Launch Pad Design Challenge.
Learning Targets
Success Looks Like…
Another team could look at your final design and explain what to cut, where the rocket sits, how the structure is braced, and how the parts connect.
Project connection: Your work today becomes evidence used in the next stage of the Engineering Design Process.
Design Development
Move from an idea to a buildable plan
DefineImagineSelectDevelopBuildTestImproveCommunicate
A prototype should be built from a plan—not from memory.
Final Sketch
Communicate the geometry clearly
Required drawing information
- Overall footprint dimensions
- Overall launch-pad height
- Rocket location and support contact points
- Major support and brace dimensions
- Material labels
- Joint / hot-glue locations
- Features that allow the rocket to be installed and removed
Design-envelope check
Before approval, confirm that the final design stays within the 12 in × 12 in footprint and 12 in pad-height limits.
Place the real provided rocket in the intended support position to verify the interface before building.
Materials Plan
Assign material before you cut it
| Part / Feature | Material | Approx. Size / Quantity | Why this material? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example: Base | Foam board | Team decision | Flat, wide support surface |
| Example: Brace | Craft stick / straw / string | Team decision | Depends on compression or tension role |
Construction Sequence
Plan the build order
- Identify what must be measured and marked first.
- Identify every cut before cutting the limited foam board.
- Plan the order that major components will be assembled.
- Identify when the provided rocket will be used for fit checks.
- Identify the hand/cutting tools needed for each operation.
Fabrication gate: The design must receive teacher approval before moving into the certification/readiness lesson.
Mission Debrief
What You Submit
Dimensioned Final Sketch + Materials & Build Plan
Submit the complete team evidence required by this lesson. Use clear labels, dimensions, test data, and reasoning where applicable.
Project Resources
Launch Pad Challenge Reference
Standard Team Materials
Core Constraints
Build your lesson report
Checkpoint: is your evidence ready?
- Check calculations, units, labels, and measurements against the activity requirements.
- Record what actually happened, including unexpected results.
- Explain what you changed and why; attach required drawings, photos, CAD, or code in your classroom assignment.
Submit the evidence specified in the activity and your classroom assignment. The report below collects your notes, calculations, observations, and reflections; attach any required drawings, photos, CAD, or code separately.
A PDF download is not a submission. Review it, then upload it and any required attachments through your classroom assignment system.