When I was approached by the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization for a guest presentation, everything sort of just clicked in my mind on how to tie-in this subject of wildfire management and the EDP. Thus came the creation of my lesson idea - introduce students to the EDP, have guest speaker talk about Hawaii's wildfire problem, then have students work in groups to follow the EDP by identifying a hometown-related wildfire issue and developing possible solutions. You can find my lesson plan HERE.
This lesson was very well-received by my students! They were very engaged with trying to think of all the wildfire-related issues in their hometowns, arguing with one another on which one was the "bigger" issue. Students had so many ideas to contribute, even the students who don't typically participate in group discussions. The only bummer with this project was that I did not allow students to actually "test" their prototypes, so they did not get to fully experience the EDP. With Waimea being the only area in "RED" on the wildfire hazards map of Kauai, I really didn't think it would be a good idea for us to be testing wildfire management in an area that is already extremely prone to wildfires!
Despite having to halt the process halfway through, this experience sparked many of my students to go on to opt for an Engineering Project for Science Fair, rather than the typical Science Investigation-type project. With so many more students doing Engineering Projects, that made me have to step out of my comfort zone to help guide them through these projects (since I've had years and years of experience with traditional science fair projects, but zero experience with engineering projects). That, in turn, made me realize how fun and natural these engineering projects felt, and it has now made me want to incorporate more EDP throughout the year and possibly even make it my sole focus for Science Fair projects next year!
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