Day 4: Pest Patrol — Peer Feedback + Societal Trends
Lesson Overview
| Time | 50 minutes |
| Objectives | Get peer feedback on the drone design using the H&L workbook rubric; analyze how changing societal needs create new ag and environmental careers; complete a societal trends chart |
| TEKS | d(1)(D), d(5)(C) |
| Deliverable | Completed peer feedback form + societal trends chart with at least 5 rows |
| Materials | H&L Workbook Ch 2, pp. 34-35; printed peer feedback rubric (workbook format); printed societal trends chart; drone sketches from Day 3 |
Warm-Up (5 min)
WARM-UP: Engineers always show their designs to other people before building. Why? What can a peer see that the designer can't see in their own work?
Take 3 student responses. The point: peer feedback catches blind spots. Today the class becomes a team of engineers reviewing each other's drones, just like a real engineering firm.
Activity 1: Peer Feedback on Drone Designs (20 min)
Source: H&L Workbook Ch 2, pp. 34-35, "Step 4: Get Peer Feedback"
Pair students up. Each student takes a turn explaining their drone to their partner using the workbook prompts (p. 34):
- Explain the pest problem and how your drone helps farmers find and stop pests
- Show your drone design and explain how it works
- Discuss how your drone could help reduce pest damage
Time split inside the 20 min: Partner A explains their drone (min 0–6) → Partner B explains theirs (min 6–12) → both partners fill rubrics with specific notes (min 12–17) → both write 1–2 revisions in pen on their own sketch (min 17–20). If a pair runs short, move the revision note to the exit ticket instead of cutting it from Day 4.
After both students have explained their drones, partners fill out the peer feedback form for each other. The H&L workbook (p. 34) provides a 4-criteria rubric:
| Criteria | Yes / Somewhat / No | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| My partner understood the problem | ||
| The drone is creative and functional | ||
| The drone design addresses Texas weather and farm size | ||
| The partner explained the design clearly |
After the feedback exchange, each student goes back to their drone and writes 1-2 things they would CHANGE based on the feedback (in pen, on the original sketch).
Facilitation Tip
Train students to give specific feedback, not just "good job." Model on the board: instead of "I like your drone," say "Your camera placement is great because it sees the underside of leaves where spider mites hide." Specific feedback teaches the engineer; generic feedback teaches nothing.
Activity 2: Societal Trends Chart (20 min)
Source: TEKS d(5)(C): Analyze the effects of changing employment trends, societal needs, and economic conditions on career choices
Transition to the societal needs analysis with a direct bridge: the drone the student designed yesterday IS a career that barely existed 20 years ago. Ag-Tech Drone Operator is one of the clearest recent examples of what changing farm needs plus new technology create together. Today's chart looks at other societal changes and asks what new careers each one is producing.
Project the chart template on the board:
| Societal Change | New Careers Created | Careers Changing or Adapting |
|---|---|---|
| Climate awareness | Sustainability Consultant, Environmental Engineer | Traditional energy roles adding renewable skill sets (wind/solar technicians) |
| Pest pressure on farms | Ag-Tech Drone Operator, Precision Agriculture Technician | Crop inspection shifting from hand-walking to drone-assisted monitoring |
| (3 more rows for students to fill in) |
Walk through the first 2 rows as examples. Then students fill in 3 MORE rows on their own. Possible societal changes to spark ideas:
- Aging population
- Plastic waste in oceans
- Online shopping growth
- Remote work normalization
- Renewable energy demand
- Water scarcity in Texas
- Vertical farming in cities
- AI in agriculture
Students use H&L career data, BLS, and class discussion to populate their rows. Each row needs at least 1 new career and 1 career that is changing or adapting. If students bring up a family member's job when the class discusses "careers changing," honor the reference, most jobs that look like they are disappearing are actually shifting as workers add new skills (e.g., an oil-and-gas technician retraining for wind turbine maintenance stays in the same energy sector).
DOK 3: Based on your chart, what advice would you give a younger student deciding between a career in fossil fuels and a career in renewable energy? Use societal trends data to defend your advice.
Activity 3: Quick Class Share (3 min)
In the last 3 minutes, ask 3 students to share one row from their chart that the rest of the class might not have thought of. Surface the most surprising connections.
Exit Ticket (2 min)
EXIT TICKET (Comparison Matrix) · Printable PDF:
Use your Day 4 Societal Trends Chart to fill in the matrix.
| Societal Change | New Career Created | Existing Career CHANGING |
|---|---|---|
| Change 1: ___ | ||
| Change 2: ___ |
Bottom line: Which of your two societal changes is creating the MOST new careers (quantity and variety), and why? (d(1)(D), d(5)(C))
Submit your peer feedback form and societal trends chart with this ticket.
Differentiation
- Support: Pre-fill the societal trends chart with 3 societal changes already listed in column 1. Students fill in only the new and declining careers.
- Extension: Add a 4th column to the chart: "What technology drives this change?" Fill in for at least 3 rows.
- ELL: Pre-teach: Society = Sociedad, Trend = Tendencia, Decline = Declive, Demand = Demanda. Bilingual societal trends chart with Spanish column headers.