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Day 1: Manufacturing Cluster Tour — More Than Assembly Lines

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Read H&L Ch 14 introduction; complete the Making Connections pair brainstorm; explore the Manufacturing cluster in the H&L app; identify pathways and Hats
TEKS d(1)(B), d(1)(C)
Deliverable Stop and Jot notes (2 careers + 2 questions) and 1 Manufacturing pathway identified
Materials H&L Workbook Ch 14 (pp. 229-231), Chromebooks, projector for cluster tour video

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: Name a product you used this morning (phone, toothbrush, shoes, breakfast cereal). How do you think it was made? Who made it?

Quick share-out. Listen for students saying "a machine" or "a factory." Bridge: "Yes, a machine made it, but who designed and built and runs that machine? That is what Manufacturing is. This week we meet those people."

Activity 1: Read H&L Ch 14 — Exploring the World of Manufacturing (15 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 14, p. 230, "Exploring the World of Manufacturing"

Open the workbook to page 230. Read the chapter opener together (about how manufacturing professionals turn raw materials into finished products using technology, machinery, and problem-solving skills).

Walk through the six confirmed Manufacturing pathways from the workbook (Ch 14, p. 230):

  1. Robotics and Automation Technology: Build, fix, and operate robots and machines used in things like deep-sea exploration or cleaning up waste.
  2. Industrial Maintenance: Fix and care for machines in factories and buildings using welding, plumbing, and electrical skills.
  3. Manufacturing Technology: Use machines, plastic, make parts, and fix equipment.
  4. Electronics Technology: Learn how electricity works and how to fix electrical systems including circuits and wiring.
  5. Welding: Work with metal and plastic to join parts together using heat (welding, cutting).
  6. Advanced Manufacturing & Industrial Technology: Work with high-tech equipment like CNC machines, robots, and computers to shape metal.

Tell students the FANUC Robot Operator certification at Singley Academy connects directly to pathway #1 (Robotics and Automation Technology).

Making Connections (workbook activity, p. 231): Pair students up. Give them 5 minutes to brainstorm: pick something they use every day (phone, shoes, computer, water bottle) and discuss how it is manufactured. What steps are involved? What jobs do they think exist along the way?

After 5 minutes, call on 3-4 pairs to share. Listen for understanding that manufacturing is a multi-step, multi-person process, not "a machine made it."

Facilitation Tip

Most students think "manufacturing = factory worker" and stop there. Push them: "Who designed the assembly line? Who programs the robots? Who tests the products before they ship? Who manages the factory floor?" Each of these is a separate Hat.

Need a Facilitation Strategy? Try This

If a teacher read-aloud of the six pathways lands flat, swap it for a Jigsaw: assign one pathway per table group, give expert groups 6 minutes to prep 2 to 3 key points, then re-sort into home groups of 6 for peer teaching. See Facilitation Strategies.

Activity 2: H&L Manufacturing Cluster App Exploration with Stop and Jot (20 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 14, p. 231, "Dive Into Pathways" (directs students to the H&L app)

[H&L PLATFORM] The workbook (Ch 14, p. 231) directs students: "Go to the Hats & Ladders app and click on the 'Manufacturing Cluster.' Spend 15 minutes exploring the cluster and pathways." Students navigate to the Manufacturing cluster in the H&L app, watch the cluster tour video, and explore the six pathways. They use the Hat Finder to browse 2-3 Hats per pathway, checking education, DFW salary, and demand level.

Stop and Jot procedure: While watching the cluster tour video, students pause TWICE in their engineering notebook (dated entry, labeled "1SW Wk1 Manufacturing") to write:

  • Stop 1: One new career you learned about in this video
  • Stop 2: One question you still have about manufacturing

After the video, students explore 2-3 pathways using the Hat Finder. In the same engineering notebook entry, they write down:

  • One Hat (career) within the pathway that interests them
  • The education or training required for that Hat
  • One detail that surprised them (salary, daily task, training time)

Walk the room and check that students are actually exploring rather than scrolling past. Stop and ask: "Tell me one career you found." If they cannot answer, sit with them and walk through the Hat Finder together.

DOK 2: How would you summarize the difference between what you THOUGHT manufacturing was before today and what you learned it actually involves?

Exit Ticket (5 min)

EXIT TICKET (Comparison Matrix) · Printable PDF:

Pick TWO Manufacturing careers you explored today. Fill in the matrix below using H&L Hat Finder data.

Career 1: ___ Career 2: ___
Daily work (1 specific task)
Training time (months or years)
Works with robots, metal, or both?

Bottom line: My Wk0 RIASEC type is ___. Which of my two careers fits my RIASEC type BEST, and why? Use one cell from the matrix in your answer. (d(1)(B), d(1)(C))

Differentiation

  • Support: Pre-print the 6 Manufacturing pathways with one example Hat per pathway so students can match instead of generate. Provide a Stop and Jot template with sentence stems: "One new career I learned about is _. One question I have is ___."
  • Extension: Students who finish the Hat Finder exploration early dig deeper into one pathway and find a real DFW employer that hires that role (Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Toyota in Plano, etc.).
  • ELL: Use H&L's browser translation. Pre-teach: Pathway = Trayectoria, Robot = Robot, Welder = Soldador, Maintenance = Mantenimiento, Electronics = Electrónica.