New Badge Review: Brownie Automotive Engineering

Right now, I'd say there are two classifications of GSUSA badges--regular badges and "progressive" badges.  The regular badges cover a gamut of topics and are characterized by the format of the materials offered by GSUSA.  For each of the five requirements, the badge insert and VTK offer a choice of three different activities per requirement.  (If you are not aware, VTK changed a lot of its meeting plans during the summer of 2020) The progressive badges deal with STEM topics and the badge inserts are background information on the subject.  The plans in VTK are unified lesson plans where the leader talking points turn something like drawing a quilt block into a coding activity.

This year a new set of progressive badges was released. They are K-5 Automotive Engineering Badges.  The first in the set for Brownies is Automotive Design and it involves designing a work vehicle and then sculpting it out of plastic clay.   The second in the set is Automotive Engineering and it involves designing an emergency vehicle and building it out of junk/craft supplies. The third is Automotive Manufacturing and it involves making vehicles out of craft supplies assembly-line style. This post is about the second badge, Automotive Engineering.

Requirements

According to Badge Explorer:

Girls will find out how automotive engineers create vehicles. They use the Design Thinking Process to build, test, and improve a prototype of an emergency vehicle that meets a set of criteria. They also explore how simple machines are combined to make a vehicle and learn about the importance of vehicle safety.

Step 1: Learn about simple machines in vehicles

Step 2: Engineer a vehicle for safety based on criteria

Step 3: Build a vehicle prototype

Step 4: Test and revise your vehicle prototype

Step 5: Share your vehicle prototype and testing results

When girls earn this badge, they'll know how automotive engineers plan, build, test, and improve vehicles.

VTK Plans

As Girls Arrive

As girls arrive they are given cards with emergency situations on them and asked to brainstorm about what supplies they would like to have with them in a backpack if the emergency occurred.

Opening Circle

In the opening circle the leader discusses that criteria and the parts, features and goals for a vehicle and how engineers use them to design a vehicle.  She tells them they are going to design and build a vehicle that will work in emergencies and relates design features to the emergency equipment discussed in step one.

Learn About Simple Machines

The materials for the meeting have photos of a variety of simple machines and the plan calls for a game where the girls match the machine to the name and then find the machine in a car.  For example one of the machines is a screw and the gas cap is a screw.

Engineer a Vehicle for Safety Based on Criteria

 The leader discusses how vehicles are designed to meet certain criteria and tells the girls that they are going to design vehicles to help in an emergency--either a hurricane, a blizzard or an earthquake.  She hands out sheets with the criteria for the various vehicles and some brainstorming questions.  The girls work in teams of two to come up with a list of criteria for their vehicle.

The leader then shows them the materials from which they will be building.  Materials listed are boxes or soda bottles for the body, bottle caps, cardboard circles, CDs, yogurt lids or spools for the wheels and skewers or dowels and straws for the axles.  She then points out that creating a prototype is a lot of work and that it is easier if  you plan first, with a drawing.  The girls when work together to draw their proposed vehicle, inside and out.  The leader talking points include defining the word prototype and talking about collaboration.

Closing Circle

In the closing circle, the leader talks about safety features the girls put in their vehicles and asks them to brainstorm about safety features that vehicles of the future may contain.

Second Meeting:  Arrival Activity

As girls enter the second meeting, the leader hands them the design criteria they developed at the last meeting and has them review the stack of building materials to select the ones they want to use for their vehicles.

Opening Circle: The Design Thinking Process

During the opening circle, the leader reviews the Design Thinking Process (define a need, brainstorm solutions, design (make a plan), build, test and evaluate, redesign and share) and talks about how the process is used to design and build a new vehicle.  She also talks about how new designs as a result of testing are called iterations and how the word "iterate" means to change. She points out that the girls have been using the design process with their emergency vehicles and that today they will build, test and improve the vehicle, just like real automotive engineers.

Building the Vehicle

Girls take the provided supplies and their design criteria and work in teams to create a prototype vehicle.  The leader reminds them to use their criteria checklist and the vehicle sketches to make sure they have included all the necessary parts.  Before they start, she points out how they are going to test them.  First, they will all roll down a ramp.  Then they will either go in water, over rocks or through flour (snow).

Testing the Vehicle

The first test is to see if the vehicle call roll down a ramp in a straight line.  If not, the girls are encouraged to figure out why so they can improve the vehicle.  Maybe the wheels fell off--what can fix it?  They are encouraged to take notes. The leader's notes give some tips for improving common problems.  Next the leader talks about testing to the point of failure and what that means.  Then the girls test their vehicles by rolling them down the ramp into the obstacle representing their weather emergency.  Again girls are asked to note problems, and perhaps photograph them.  They talk about what went wrong with the vehicles and what could be improved.

Share Your Vehicle Prototype and Testing Results

The leader talking points talk about how engineers present their work at milestone reviews and how manufacturing engineers take the design engineers' plans and use them to plan out how to make the vehicle.  The girls in each team present their vehicle to the others as in a milestone meeting.

Resources Provided

Resources provided on VTK include a materials list and glossary.  There is also a seven page document to help the leader prepare for the meeting. It talks about the materials you will need, how to build a vehicle as well as how to troubleshoot one.  It also gives some of the talking points.  There is a "Notes for Volunteers" document which seems to repeat much of what the other resources say, but which does have one page document that gives a good overview of all six meetings in this badge series.  A design thinking process poster is also included.  The simple machines matching game for the first meeting is included as is a criteria checklist.  There is a worksheet for the girls to complete to help them present their vehicle. Finally there is a girl survey.  

My Comments

The badges in this series were sponsored by General Motors and the way the plans are written, they are clearly trying to teach about the whole process of conceptualizing and manufacturing a vehicle.  While there are five requirements I don't really think these badges were developed with the idea that leaders would substitute other activities for the ones given.  The VTK plans are lesson plans with extensive talking points.  I don't think the point of the badge is so much to create a a vehicle as it is to learn to define criteria, design to meet the criteria, test the prototype and then improve it, and to learn that engineers use that process in real life.  This is not a badge you would award the girls for making a "Pinewood Derby"-type car.  

If your troop decides to do this badge, I highly recommend that you dig into the VTK plans and resources.  

Do you think your troop will try this badge?