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Day 1: H&L "Delivery Connection App" + Automotive Pathway Browse

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Complete the H&L "Delivery Connection App" Career Lab activity (Ch 15) by designing a warehouse communication app sketch; browse the H&L Automotive & Collision Repair pathway and the Diesel & Heavy Equipment pathway
TEKS d(1)(C), d(1)(B)
Deliverable Completed Delivery Connection App sketch with at least 4 labeled features (chat/messaging, GPS tracking, role-based interface, alerts/notifications)
Materials Chromebooks, H&L accounts, H&L Workbook (Ch 15, pp. 257-261, "Delivery Connection App"), printed Delivery Connection App sketch template (with FleetConnect Focus Group Discussion Guide excerpt), projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: Have you ever ordered something online and not known when it would arrive? What was frustrating about it? What would have made it better?

Take 4-5 student responses. Common: late deliveries, wrong items, no tracking updates. Bridge: today we are designing the exact app that warehouses, drivers, and customers all wish existed.

Activity 1: H&L "Delivery Connection App" — Read the Brief (12 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 15, pp. 257-261, "Delivery Connection App" (Career Lab activity)

Read the workbook framing aloud (paraphrased from p. 257): Warehouse managers keep everything in a warehouse organized, safe, and running. Without them, packages get lost, deliveries are late, and the supply chain breaks down. Sometimes companies build apps to solve real-world problems. To make those apps work, the developers need to talk to people who actually do the job. These are called focus groups.

The student role: A warehouse manager invited to join a focus group for a company called FleetConnect. The company wants to build an app that connects clients, delivery drivers, and warehouses in real time, to fix problems like clients not knowing when trucks will arrive, miscommunication between warehouses and drivers, late deliveries, and wrong deliveries.

Read the FleetConnect Focus Group Discussion Guide (pp. 257-258 of the workbook). Key data from the workbook brief:

  • 62% of warehouse managers say they regularly deal with delivery delays
  • 70% of clients say they don't know where their delivery is until it arrives
  • 66% of drivers say they waste time finding the right loading dock
  • All three groups agreed a shared communication app would help

The workbook also lists the App Design Questions (p. 258-259) the focus group is meant to answer: 1. Users & Versions: Who uses the app? Should each role have a different version? 2. Main Features: What features fix the problems? 3. Interface Design: What appears on the home screen? 4. Communication Tools: Should there be chat? 5. Notifications: What alerts and how often?

Activity 2: Design the App (25 min)

Source: H&L Workbook Ch 15, p. 259-260, Step 2 (Design an App)

The workbook (p. 259) instructs students: "Use a digital tool or the space below to draw what your app looks like. Think about the features the app should have to solve the problems and meet the goals of the company."

Distribute the printed Delivery Connection App sketch template. Students design a sketch of their app's home screen and at least one secondary screen. The app must include at least 4 labeled features:

  1. Real-time GPS tracking: clients see where their delivery is
  2. In-app chat or messaging: clients can ask drivers questions
  3. Role-based interface: different views for warehouse manager, driver, and client
  4. Smart notifications: "Driver is 10 minutes away," "Delivery delayed due to traffic"

Optional features students may add: photo proof of delivery, delivery rating, signature capture, multilingual support, refund button.

The workbook (p. 260) suggests an extra: students who finish early create an app icon and a slogan.

Facilitation Tip

Encourage stick-figure level drawing. The point is to label features and explain decisions, not to produce art. Students who try to draw a beautiful app will spend the entire period on visual polish and miss the focus group reasoning.

After 20 minutes of sketching, students do the workbook's class discussion (p. 260):

  • What was the most challenging part of designing your app?
  • If your app were real, how would it help warehouses, drivers, AND customers?
  • Why is it important to use focus groups with experienced professionals BEFORE developing a new product?

Take 1-2 student responses to each prompt.

DOK 3: Why does FleetConnect need warehouse managers in their focus group instead of just guessing what features to build? Use specific data from the FleetConnect brief in your answer.

Activity 3: Quick Browse — Automotive & Collision Repair Hats (5 min)

[H&L PLATFORM] Direct students to open H&L and browse the Automotive & Collision Repair pathway within the Transportation cluster. The workbook (Ch 15) lists this pathway and describes it: "Fix, service, and repaint different types of vehicles; diagnose problems, repair damage, and use the latest tools and technologies." Students glance at 2-3 Hats — Auto Mechanic, Diesel Technician, Collision Repair Technician — and note that the education indicator looks different from engineering Hats (apprenticeship + certification, not 4-year degree). Tomorrow they go deeper.

This is a preview, not a deep dive. Day 2 covers ASE certification.

Exit Ticket (3 min)

EXIT TICKET (Venn Diagram Comparison) · Printable PDF:

Both Auto Service Technician and Collision Repair Technician are Transportation cluster careers you saw in H&L today. Fill in the Venn Diagram below.

     AUTO SERVICE TECH                   COLLISION REPAIR TECH
     ----------------------              -----------------------

     (different: 2 things              (different: 2 things
      only Auto Tech does)              only Collision does)



                        (overlap: 2 things
                         BOTH careers do)

  • Unique to Auto Service Tech: _____

  • Unique to Collision Repair Tech: _____

  • Shared by both: _____

Bottom line: a student who loves PAINT + BODY WORK should pick which career, and why? (d(1)(B), d(1)(C))

Differentiation

  • Support: Pre-filled sketch template with 2 of the 4 required feature boxes already labeled (chat and GPS). Students add the other 2 and explain. Pair with a peer for the brief-reading step.
  • Extension: Add a Step 5 to the workbook activity, design how the company would test the app with actual warehouse managers BEFORE launching it (a small pilot rollout).
  • ELL: Bilingual sketch template with Spanish feature labels: Mensaje = Chat, Rastreo = Tracking, Notificación = Notification, Roles = Roles. Pre-teach: Warehouse = Almacén, Driver = Conductor, Client = Cliente, Focus Group = Grupo de enfoque.