Unit 4.1 Innovation, Inc.: Engineering design, device/vessel model, CAD concept, prototype testing, disease prevention.
What to do if absent- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning — make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure — the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Innovation, Inc.: designing and testing a biomedical device
Apply the engineering design process to model and test a biomedical device, using constraints, criteria, and a test plan to drive iteration.
- 1Define constraint, criterion, and prototype, then state one of each for your device.
- 2Sketch a CAD-style concept of your device, such as a stent or vessel model.
- 3Build a simple physical prototype from the available materials.
- 4Write a test plan stating what you will measure and what result counts as success.
- 5Run your test, record the data, and note where the prototype met or missed its criteria.
- 6Describe one iteration you would make and how it should improve performance.
- • You will be able to state constraints and criteria for a biomedical device.
- • You will be able to build and test a prototype against a written test plan.
- • You will be able to justify a design iteration from your test data.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
One sentence recording the strongest opposing argument heard during the device innovation ethics debate.
Annotated engineering design process diagram with all seven stages labeled, a CAD description, an iteration worked example, and a disease-prevention connection note.
Completed data table with at least three trial measurements, labeled independent and dependent variables, an average performance calculation, one measurement error source, and one test-setup limitation.
CER stating whether the prototype met its design goal, citing averaged trial data and variable-control evidence, explaining design strengths and flaws, proposing a specific iteration with a predicted result, and stating test-data limitations.
Updated project tracker with innovation-unit status, confidence rating on engineering design and biotechnology, and one reflective note, linked to the four-artifact evidence package.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: a stent that saves a life started as a rough prototype that someone tested and improved.
- Today's goal: move through the design process from concept to a tested, improvable prototype.
- Monday bioethics debate ties in: how much testing is enough before a new device is used on patients?
- Reminder: your graded prototype, test plan, and iteration notes are submitted in the PLTW course shell.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance your PLTW PBS innovation benchmark by completing the device prototype, test plan, and iteration notes in the online course shell.
- • Constraints and criteria define what a successful device must do and stay within.
- • Iteration uses test data to improve a prototype step by step.
- • A test plan states the measurement and the result that counts as success.
- • Build and test a prototype against a written test plan.
- • Justify a design iteration using recorded data.
📋 PLTW evidence due: the completed device prototype, test plan, and iteration notes in the course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Thu, Dec 10 | Device innovation ethics debate | One sentence recording the strongest opposing argument heard during the device innovation ethics debate. |
| Tuesday | Fri, Dec 11 | Engineering design notes | Annotated engineering design process diagram with all seven stages labeled, a CAD description, an iteration worked example, and a disease-prevention connection note. |
| Wednesday | Mon, Dec 14 | Device and model testing lab | Completed data table with at least three trial measurements, labeled independent and dependent variables, an average performance calculation, one measurement error source, and one test-setup limitation. |
| Thursday | Tue, Dec 15 | Prototype evaluation CER | CER stating whether the prototype met its design goal, citing averaged trial data and variable-control evidence, explaining design strengths and flaws, proposing a specific iteration with a predicted result, and stating test-data limitations. |
| Friday | Wed, Dec 16 | Submit tracker and evidence | Updated project tracker with innovation-unit status, confidence rating on engineering design and biotechnology, and one reflective note, linked to the four-artifact evidence package. |
- M: Philosophy for Kids / John Carroll bioethical debate
- T: teacher background notes + PLTW launch task
- W: lab / data or model work
- Th: analysis / CER or design revision
- F: submit tracker + weekly evidence
Due by week's end: Device test plan and data table.
Lab day — what to bring & watch
This explainer accompanies the PLTW lab protocol — watch it before lab.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Teacher-posted data/model packet, same objective. Supplemental: Khan: experimental design/statistics; NIH biomedical engineering career pages.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
PhET: simulations for engineering and physical testingVocabulary
Virtual resources
Resources & readings
Hand-picked materials for this lesson. Class file items open the document directly; the rest are vetted readings and interactives from other biomedical programs.
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 15 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project