Daily Learning Contract
- Topic: Career Opportunities
- Objective: Students will identify an agricultural-engineering career opportunity by creating a labeled drone design brief from field evidence.
- TEKS: d(1)(C)
- Demonstration of Learning: Pest Patrol Drone Design Brief draft with a named career, work product, and user.
Lesson Overview
| Time | 50 minutes |
| Objective | Identify an agricultural-engineering career opportunity by creating a labeled drone design brief from field evidence |
| TEKS | d(1)(C) |
| Deliverable | Pest Patrol Drone Design Brief draft with a named career, work product, and user |
| Materials | FYF p. 95; Design Brief; Day 2 constraints; pencils; optional Canva or Adobe Express |
Before Class
Give each student the completed Day 2 constraints and one two-page Design Brief printed double-sided. Post the rubric digitally; default rubric print count is 0. Provide one device only to students using Canva or Adobe Express. Open the unpublished draft assignment and keep paper equal. Project the supplied evidence-chain model: "The farmer cannot walk every row, so the drone includes a mapping route. This helps the farmer find problem areas faster."
Warm-Up (5 min)
WARM-UP: What makes an engineering sketch useful to another person even when the drawing is rough?
Expected ideas include labels, arrows, function, scale, and evidence.
Activity 1: Model One Evidence Chain (8 min)
Draw a simple camera box and label it. Model the three-part chain:
- the field report says;
- so the drone includes; and
- this feature would help because.
Do not model a full drone. Students need a clear standard without receiving a design to copy.
Activity 2: Design and Label (25 min)
Students use the full-page drawing canvas or an equal digital route. Require:
- six or more labeled features;
- a sensor or camera and what it detects;
- movement or field coverage;
- a way to report information to the farmer;
- safety or crop protection;
- three evidence links; and
- one tradeoff.
On the second page, students name the career role, the design brief as a work product, and the worker or user who would use it.
Active Monitoring: By minute 18, the large sketch and at least three function labels exist. By minute 32, six labels and three links to Day 2 evidence are visible. If several students have part names without functions, pause and add a verb to one label. If several have labels without evidence links, apply the supplied chain to one feature.
The Canvas draft Assignment accepts a file, image, text explanation, or media recording. Paper is equal and may be photographed only if the student wants a digital record.
Activity 3: Tradeoff Check (7 min)
Students complete the evidence-chain and tradeoff page. A tradeoff must name a benefit and a cost, risk, or limit. "My design has no weaknesses" is not acceptable evidence.
Exit Check (5 min)
Students use the visible "You are done when" checklist in Canvas and turn in the draft.
DOK 3: Which feature is most important to the farmer, and which source gives the strongest evidence for it?
Supports and Fallbacks
- Support: Offer a basic drone outline, but keep the same six-label and evidence criteria.
- Extension: Add a test plan for one feature.
- Language: Labels may be English, Spanish, or bilingual when the function is clear.
- Equipment fallback: No drone hardware is required. The learning target is design reasoning.
- Absence: Complete the Canvas guide and Design Brief, then submit digitally or on paper.
If time is short, cut color and decorative polish. Protect six functional labels, three evidence links, one complete chain, one tradeoff, and the five-minute save/submit/reset window.