Using the Design Cycle to Create Interdisciplinary Project-based STEM Simulations

Using the Design Cycle
to Create
Interdisciplinary
Project-based
STEM Simulations
by Angela DeHart

What if the FACS, math
and science departments
used the design cycle to
reinforce the STEM concepts
embedded in their subject matter?
Design
Cycle
Scientific Method Engineering Cycle
Identify the
problem
Ask a question
Identify the
problem

Chapter 1
The History of Home Economics
Design
Cycle
Scientific Method Engineering Cycle
Investigate Research Research

Solutions
*identifying of the connection between
infectious disease and human waste
*the invention & construction of city-
wide sewer system
*the invention of indoor plumbing
*significant reduction of overall death rate
*better nutrition
*child care
*clean drinking water
*better hygiene practices
Home Economics related Problems in the late 1800’s early 1900’s
Problems
*smell of living near cesspits and
primitive outhouses
*spread of deadly infectious diseases
such as typhoid fever, cholera,
malaria, and polio
*reduced life expectancy
*poor nutrition
*poor child care
*inadequate hygiene
*clean water

The most prominent female
American chemist of the
19th century, Ellen H.
Swallow Richards (1842–
1911) was a pioneer in
sanitary engineering and a
founder of home
economics in the United
States.
She was first to suggest
that public water be treated
with chlorine.
Ellen H. Swallow Richards
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/public-and-environmental-health/public-health-and-safety/richards-e.aspx

At Vassar she was attracted to
astronomy and chemistry. Upon
graduation she applied for positions
with various industrial chemists, but
was turned down in all cases. At the
suggestion of one of these chemists,
however, she applied and was
accepted as a special student at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
making her the first woman in America
to be accepted by a scientific school.
Three years later she received a second
bachelor’s degree—a B.S. from MIT—
as well as a master’s degree from
Vassar, to which she had submitted a
thesis on the chemical analysis of an
iron ore. She then continued at MIT
with hopes of earning a doctorate, but
MIT was not to award its first
doctorate to a woman until 1886.http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/public-and-environmental-health/public-health-and-safety/richards-e.aspx

In 1875 she married Robert Hallowell
Richards, chairman of the MIT’s mining
engineering department. Supported in
her ambitions by her husband, Richards
volunteered her services as well as
$1,000 annually to further women’s
scientific education at MIT. Through her
efforts, the Women’s Laboratory was
established in 1876, and in 1879 she was
recognized as an assistant instructor,
without pay, for teaching the curriculum
in chemical analysis, industrial
chemistry, mineralogy, and applied
biology. The laboratory was closed in
1883 after MIT began awarding
undergraduate degrees to women on a
regular basis and there was no more
need for a special track
http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/chemistry-in-history/themes/public-and-environmental-health/public-health-and-safety/richards-e.aspx

In 1884 Mrs. Richards was appointed
instructor in Sanitary Chemistry at the
Institute of Technology, a position which
she held [until…] her death. For many
years she directed the entire instruction in
the chemistry of air, water and foods, for
chemists, biologists and sanitary
engineers….
She also maintained an extensive private
practice in sanitary chemistry for many
years and acted in an advisory capacity for
a very large number of public and private
institutions. Her publications relating to
sanitation [were] numerous and varied,
and she maintained active membership in,
and participated in the meetings of local
and national societies dealing with water
supplies and public health problems.http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/esr/esr-biography.html

Beginning in 1899, Richards, along
with Melvil Dewey and other
educators and activists, organized a
series of annual gatherings that
became known as the Lake Placid
Conferences, because the first of
these, and several of the later ones,
was held at Lake Placid, New York.
Out of these conferences, a
movement took shape that slowly
defined itself and began pursuing
specific goals. At the first conference,
participants agreed on the term
"home economics," which was held
to be sufficiently broad to cover a
wide range of concerns, and they
began energetic and successful efforts
to promote the teaching of home
economics in secondary schools and
in colleges and universities.http://hearth.library.cornell.edu/h/hearth/about.html

Home Economics
*entry into higher education (excluded prior to 1848)
*job previously reserved for men
*gained managerial positions (i.e. college professor)
*became speakers for women’s issues (Women’s rights, 19th Amendment)
*held government positions
Offered women

http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/esr/esr-womenslab.html
http://hearth.library.cornell.edu/

Chapter 2
Opportunities for FACS Today
Design Cycle
Scientific
Method
Engineering Cycle
Design/plan a
product/solution
Construct a
hypothesis
Develop possible
solutions

Summer Camp Sparks
Teenage Girls’ Interest
in STEM Careers
www.utdallas.edu
Article about Black
women in STEM
(see bibliography)
Article about Women
in Nontraditional Roles
(see bibiography)
Danica McKeller
Mathematician &
Actress
Honored by British
Journal of Physics
Mayim Bialik
PhD in Neuroscience
Author & Actress
Sally Kristen Ride was
an American physicist
and astronaut. Ride
joined NASA in 1978
and became the first
American woman in
space

Home Economics related Problems in Today’s Society
Problems
*spread of deadly infectious diseases………..In 2013 only 2 of the 8 laboratory-confirmed bacterial
such as norovirus, salmonella, infections in the US decreased. The rest remained at
staphylococcus, E.coli 0156:H7, or above their previous level
and listeria
*reduced life expectancy due to poor…………In 2012 Japan, France, Switzerland and Sweden all
nutrition and lack of exercise longer life expectancy rate than Americans (+3)
*Type 2 diabetes, especially in children………in 2012 cost the healthcare system 245 billion
*obesity………………………………………..if current trajectories continue by 2030 13 states
could have obesity rates above 60%
*nonfatal injuries to children under 5 is………use of cell phones has parents distracted
on the rise
*clean water……………………………..……..sewer system built in the 1800, early 1900’s. It is
old and in need of repair

FACS Course Curriculum
Home Economics related Problems in today’s society
Problems
*spread of deadly infectious diseases…………Life Planning
such as norovirus, salmonella, …………Culinary Arts 1, 2
staphylococcus, E.coli H-0157, and …………Fitness & Food
listeria
*reduced life expectancy due to poor………….Life Planning
nutrition and lack of exercise ………….Fitness & Foods
*obesity .................FACS 6th , 7th , 8th grades
*Type 2 diabetes, especially in children……….Child Development and Parenting
*nonfatal injuries to children under 5 is……….Early Childhood Careers 1, 2
on the rise
*clean water

Home Economics related Problems
Today’s Problems
such as norovirus, salmonella,
staphylococcus, E.coli H-0157, and
listeria
*reduced life expectancy due to poor
nutrition and lack of exercise; obesity;
Type 2 diabetes
*nonfatal injuries to children under
5 is on the rise
*clean water
Problems in 1800’s
such as typhoid fever, cholera,
malaria, and polio
nutrition, inadequate hygiene and
unsanitary living conditions
*poor child care
*clean water

-Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr.
"plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
"the more things change, the more they stay the same"
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and
over again and expecting different
results.”
-Albert Einstein
We cannot solve our problems with the
same thinking we used when we created
them. -Albert Einstein

Chapter 3
Transform the Classroom
Design Cycle
Scientific
Method
Engineering Cycle
Create the
product/solution
Test your
hypothesis
Construct
prototypes/models

Solutions
Home Economics related Problems in today’s society
Problems
such as norovirus, salmonella,
staphylococcus, E.coli H-0157, and
listeria
nutrition and lack of exercise
*Type 2 diabetes, especially in children
*obesity
*nonfatal injuries to children under 5 is
on the rise
*clean water

:Collaboration & Community Service

:Collaboration & Community Service
Design Cycle
Scientific
Method
Engineering Cycle
Evaluate the
product/solution
Report your
results
Communicate
the solutions

:Differentiation
Design Cycle
Scientific
Method
Engineering Cycle
Evaluate the
product/solution
Report your
results
Communicate
the solutions

Benefits of PBL
+
Projected Career Potential
:

Benefits of PBL
+
:
Design Cycle
Scientific
Method
Engineering Cycle
Evaluate the
product/solution
Report your
results
Communicate
the solutions

Benefits of PBL
+
:
-STEMbassador program is being developed
-Grants
-Re-evaluating STEMology class
-Joined NSTA, going to seminar in October
-Added more technology to class
-BRAINSTORMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Design Cycle
Scientific
Method
Engineering Cycle
Evaluate the
product/solution
Analyze
your data
and draw a
conclusion
Redesign

Typhoid Fever
Typhoid fever is a life-threatening illness caused by the bacterium Salmonella Typhi. In the United States, it is estimated that approximately 5,700 cases occur
annually. Most cases (up to 75%) are acquired while traveling internationally. Typhoid fever is still common in the developing world, where it affects about 21.5
million persons each year.
How is typhoid fever spread?
Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans. Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract. In addition, a small number of persons,
called carriers, recover from typhoid fever but continue to carry the bacteria. Both ill persons and carriers shed SalmonellaTyphi in their feces (stool).
You can get typhoid fever if you eat food or drink beverages that have been handled by a person who is shedding Salmonella Typhi or if sewage
contaminated with Salmonella Typhi bacteria gets into the water you use for drinking or washing food. Therefore, typhoid fever is more common in areas of
the world where handwashing is less frequent and water is likely to be contaminated with sewage.
Once Salmonella Typhi bacteria are eaten or drunk, they multiply and spread into the bloodstream. The body reacts with fever and other signs and symptoms.
Where in the world do you get typhoid fever?
Typhoid fever is common in most parts of the world except in industrialized regions such as the United States, Canada, western Europe, Australia, and Japan.
Therefore, if you are traveling to the developing world, you should consider taking precautions. Over the past 10 years, travelers from the United States to Asia,
Africa, and Latin America have been especially at risk.
How can you avoid typhoid fever?
Two basic actions can protect you from typhoid fever:
Avoid risky foods and drinks.
Get vaccinated against typhoid fever. (NOTE: Increasing resistance to available antimicrobial agents)
It may surprise you, but watching what you eat and drink when you travel is as important as being vaccinated. This is because the vaccines are not completely
effective. Avoiding risky foods will also help protect you from other illnesses, including travelers' diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, and hepatitis A.
"Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it"
-If you drink water, buy it bottled or bring it to a rolling boil for 1 minute before you drink it. Bottled carbonated water is safer than uncarbonated water.
-Ask for drinks without ice unless the ice is made from bottled or boiled water. Avoid popsicles and flavored ices that may have been made with contaminated water.
-Eat foods that have been thoroughly cooked and that are still hot and steaming.
-Avoid raw vegetables and fruits that cannot be peeled. Vegetables like lettuce are easily contaminated and are very hard to wash well.
-When you eat raw fruit or vegetables that can be peeled, peel them yourself. (Wash your hands with soap first.) Do not eat the peelings.
-Avoid foods and beverages from street vendors. It is difficult for food to be kept clean on the street, and many travelers get sick from food bought from street
vendors.
http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/divisions/dfbmd/diseases/typhoid_fever/

Cholera
What is Cholera?
Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. An estimated 3-5
million cases and over 100,000 deaths occur each year around the world. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but
can sometimes be severe. Approximately one in 20 (5%) infected persons will have severe disease characterized by profuse
watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these people, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without
treatment, death can occur within hours.
Where is Cholera found?
The cholera bacterium is usually found in water or food sources that have been contaminated by feces (poop)
from a person infected with cholera. Cholera is most likely to be found and spread in places with inadequate
water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene.
The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten
raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the U.S. have contracted cholera after eating raw or
undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico.
How Does a Person Get Cholera?
A person can get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source
of the contamination is usually the feces of an infected person that contaminates water and/or food. The disease can spread
rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water. The disease is not likely to spread directly from one
person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.
Who is Most Likely to Get Cholera?
Individuals living in places with inadequate water treatment, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene are at a greater risk for
cholera.
What are the Symptoms of Cholera?
Cholera infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe. Approximately one in 20 (5%) infected persons
will have severe disease characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, vomiting, and leg cramps. In these people, rapid loss of body
fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.
http://www.cdc.gov/cholera/general/index.html

Malaria
Malaria is a serious and sometimes fatal disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans. People who get
malaria are typically very sick with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness. Although malaria can be a deadly disease, illness and death from malaria can
usually be prevented.
About 1,500 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year. The vast majority of cases in the United States are in travelers and immigrants
returning from countries where malaria transmission occurs, many from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
In 2012, an estimated 627,000 people died of malaria—most were young children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malaria in the United States
Malaria was eliminated from the United States in the early 1950's.
Approximately 1,500–2,000 cases of malaria are reported every year in the United States, almost all in recent travelers. Reported malaria cases reached a
40-year high of 1,925 in 2011.
First- and second-generation immigrants from malaria-endemic countries returning to their "home" countries to visit friends and relatives tend not to use
appropriate malaria prevention measures and thus are more likely to become infected with malaria.
Between 1957 and 2011, in the United States, 63 outbreaks of locally transmitted mosquito-borne malaria have occurred; in such outbreaks, local mosquitoes
become infected by biting persons carrying malaria parasites (acquired in endemic areas) and then transmit malaria to local residents.
Of the species of Anopheles mosquitoes found in the United States, the three species that were responsible for malaria transmission prior to elimination
(Anopheles quadrimaculatus in the east, An. freeborni in the west, and An. pseudopunctipennis along the U.S./Mexico border) are still prevalent; thus there is
a constant risk that malaria could be reintroduced in the United States.
During 1963-2011, 97 cases of transfusion-transmitted malaria were reported in the United States; approximately two thirds of these cases could have been
prevented if the implicated donors had been deferred according to established guidelines.
Malaria Worldwide
3.4 billion people live in areas at risk of malaria transmission in 106 countries and territories. The World Health Organization estimates that in 2012 malaria
caused 207 million clinical episodes, and 627,000 deaths. An estimated 91% of deaths in 2010 were in the African Region.
Other Facts
Four times, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded for work associated with malaria: to Sir Ronald Ross (1902), Charles Louis
Alphonse Laveran (1907), Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1927), and Paul Hermann Müller (1948).
Two important currently used antimalarial drugs are derived from plants whose medicinal values had been noted for centuries: artemisinin from the
Qinghaosu plant (Artemisia annua, China, 4th century) and quinine from the cinchona tree (Cinchona spp., South America, 17th century).
http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/facts.html

Polio
Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal
infectious disease. There is no cure, but there
are safe and effective vaccines. Therefore, the
strategy to eradicate polio is based on
preventing infection by immunizing every
child to stop transmission and ultimately make
the world polio free.
Polio spreads from person to person invading the brain and spinal cord and causing paralysis (inability to move). Because polio
has no cure, vaccination is the best way to protect people and is the only way to stop the disease from spreading. The spread of
polio has never stopped in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. After the spread of the polio virus had previously been stopped, it
has been reintroduced and continues to spread in the Horn of Africa, Cameroon, and Syria.
CDC and its international partners have made significant progress over the past 26 years. The number of worldwide polio
cases has fallen from an estimated 350,000 in 1988 to 407 in 2013—a decline of more than 99% in reported cases.
Four regions of the world are certified polio free—the Americas, Europe, South East Asia and the Western Pacific. Only three
polio-endemic countries (countries that have never interrupted the transmission of wild poliovirus) remain—Afghanistan,
Nigeria, and Pakistan.
January 13, 2014 marked three years since a child was paralyzed by wild poliovirus in India. The country was once
considered the most complex challenge to achieving global polio eradication. On March 27, 2014, the country of India, along
with the other 10 countries in the WHO South East Asia Region, was certified polio-free.
80% of the world’s people now live in polio-free areas.
http://www.cdc.gov/polio/progress/index.htm

http://www.ayotte.com/files/Sanitation_Revolution.pdf
Sanitation/Water/Sewer System
Bibliography
http://youtu.be/7Cul30R0z-A
http://liquidassets.psu.edu/
http://madamenoire.com/279757/women-of-science-ebony-mag-gives-look-inside-world-of-black-women-in-stem/
Women in STEM
Women and Nontraditional Fields: A Comprehensive Review
By Roofia Galeshi
http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2012/10/01/some-experts-blame-parents-cell-phone-use-for-increase-in-child-
injuries/
Today’s FACS Related Problems
http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/uscities.asp
Drinking Water
Class Survey
http://goo.gl/QYOroV

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