Day 3: Design a Classroom Airport Map

Daily Learning Contract

• Topic: Career Opportunities
• Objective: Students will identify career opportunities within one or more career clusters using evidence from Career Opportunities.
• TEKS: d(1)(C)
• Demonstration of Learning: Team airport map and readiness check plus an individual design note that names an aviation role and work product.

Lesson Overview

Before Class

1. Make teams of four. Assign planner, builder, mover, and checker/recorder; combine roles in a team of three.
2. Choose one build route per team. Prepare one baseplate, one 11×17 sheet, or one Lucid board per team; four labeled aircraft tokens in one tray or envelope; and, for paper, one pencil and two markers.
3. For paper, print Lab pp. 1-2 once per team and p. 3 once per student today. Hold p. 4 for Day 4. Default digital printing is zero.
4. Project the supplied fictional model and non-example below.
5. Do not use live airport maps as the only model. The student packet contains the complete route and vocabulary.

Supplied Model and Non-Example

Ready model: R1 and R2 are two nonintersecting parallel runways. Taxi A connects Gates 1-2 to R1; Taxi B connects Gates 3-4 to R2. A tower marker can see both runways. The predicted conflict is where Taxi A meets the shared gate lane, so the revision adds a hold marker and a one-aircraft-at-a-time rule.

Non-example: two unlabeled lines, one gate, no taxi route, no north arrow, and aircraft that must jump across the page.

Warm-Up: Who Needs the Map? (5 min)

Students match four jobs to the information each needs:

• air traffic controller;
• pilot;
• airport operations worker; and
• aircraft mechanic.

Accept overlap when the explanation is sound. The point is that aviation work depends on shared, precise information.

Activity 1: Learn the Classroom Design Rules (7 min)

Explain that the build is a fictional classroom model, not an FAA-approved airport design. The minimum spacing and simplified labels exist so students can run and analyze the tabletop simulation.

Every map must include:

1. two labeled runways that do not intersect;
2. at least one taxi route from each runway to the gate area;
3. one control-tower marker with a clear view of both runways;
4. four labeled aircraft parking spaces;
5. a north arrow and route labels; and
6. a runway-closed alternate route for Day 4.

For LEGO models, the class uses a minimum six-stud gap as a design constraint. It is not a real aviation separation standard.

Activity 2: Plan Before Building (12 min)

Teams complete the top-down sketch in the lab packet before receiving materials or opening Lucid.

Required planning evidence:

• R1 and R2 runway labels;
• Taxi A and Taxi B routes;
• control tower, four gates, and north arrow;
• arrows showing one aircraft route from gate to runway and one from runway to gate;
• one predicted conflict point; and
• one revision that reduces the conflict.

Each student records one design responsibility. A student without a team uses the same small-airport scenario independently.

Activity 3: Build Through an Equal Route (16 min)

Teams choose or use the route assigned by the teacher:

• LEGO: build on a baseplate and use small pieces as aircraft;
• Paper: draw the map and move labeled sticky notes or counters; or
• Lucid: create the map with shapes and move aircraft markers during testing.

All routes use the same checklist and earn the same evidence. Construction detail and artwork do not affect the score.

The teacher monitors one criterion per lap:

1. complete routes;
2. readable labels;
3. visible conflict point; and
4. usable alternate route.

Before releasing materials, each team points to the runway, taxi route, gate, tower, north arrow, and alternate route on the supplied model. At plan minute 6, check all labels, two movement arrows, and one predicted conflict. At build minute 9, check complete routes and the alternate. If teams begin decorating before routes work, pause materials and require the readiness checklist. If time slips, use a flat paper model; protect the labeled sketch, conflict/revision, individual p. 3 note, readiness test, and cleanup.

Activity 4: Readiness Check and Cleanup (5 min)

Teams test one aircraft from Gate 1 to R1, then from R1 back to a gate. They correct one blocked or confusing route.

Before cleanup, the recorder places Lab pp. 1-2, the labeled model, and all four tokens in the team tray or saves them in the approved Canvas location. Each student submits or saves p. 3. A photo is optional and must not include student faces or names.

Exit Ticket: Individual Design Note (5 min)

EXIT TICKET (3-2-1 Reflective) · Printable PDF:

Students answer:

• 3: Name one map feature, the aviation role that uses it, and how the feature helps.
• 2: Describe one conflict point and one piece of evidence that shows the problem.
• 1: Explain one revision completed or still needed before Day 4.

The response needs three separate full-width writing areas. A single tiny box is not enough.

(d(1)(C))

Teacher Key and Monitoring

• A complete route visibly connects gate, taxi route, and runway without requiring the token to jump over an unlabeled gap.
• A useful conflict point names where two aircraft paths could cross or where a marker blocks movement.
• A strong revision changes the route, sequence, label, or gate assignment and explains the effect.
• Do not grade whether a student's map resembles DFW or a real airport. This is a communication and systems model.

Supports and Equal Routes

• Provide the labeled starter schematic and vocabulary strip.
• Students may take recorder, planner, mover, checker, or builder roles; speaking is not required.
• Paper, LEGO, and Lucid follow the same readiness checklist.
• An absent student completes the independent paper/digital map and joins a simulation group on return or uses the written Day 4 scenario route.