As part of the STEAMigPOWER project, the consortium has developed a set of innovative courses designed to promote skills development through STEAM education.

All the materials required to replicate these courses are openly available on this page, providing free access for any institution wishing to implement them in their own educational context.

In addition, the courses are also offered in online format and can be attended directly by students through the project’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

INFORMATION ABOUT THE COURSE

Number of Hours: 5 to 6 hours 

Objectives of the course:

1. Raise awareness to the importance of the construction sector and how it can contribute to the sustainable development of the society.
2. Understand concepts of Life Cycle Assessment.
3. Learn to calculate environmental indicators.
4. Explore basic concepts of structural behaviour of bridges.
5. Learn principles of the environmental impact evaluation of civil engineering constructions.
6. Gain competences in Digital Storytelling.
7. Promote critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving.
8. Learn how to take sustainable and responsible decisions based on the example of construction and structural design.

Course outline:

Section 1. Presentations and Course Outline (10 minutes)

Section 2. Lecture on Sustainable Construction (20 minutes)

   – Sustainability and sustainable development

   – The importance and impact of the construction sector in the world

   – Sustainability in the construction sector

   – Introduction to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and application to construction

   – Calculation and analysis of one environmental indicator (e.g. CO₂ emissions)

   – Interactive activity: “What do I know about sustainability in construction?”.

Material needed for this activity:

The activity is an interactive online quiz that will allow participants to get familiar with some concepts related with the topic at hand. Materials required include a screen, laptop/computer and a projector. Participants will need to use their mobile phones. If students don’t have mobile phones they can identify their answers raising their hands.

Section 3. Sustainable bridge challenge (SBC – 2 hours + 1hour)

The participants will be divided into teams of 6-8 elements. The teams will explore the field of engineering/construction and sustainability by creating bridges using different building materials. Each team decides the structural design of the bridge to adopt from a set of pre-defined structures. They also choose which material(s) they will use since the functional and environmental factors will be considered to define the winner of the challenge. Then, participants test their bridges to determine the maximum load/weight they can resist before collapsing. Simultaneously, the Global Warming Potential (GWP) index of each material will be accounted for to assess the environmental performance of the bridge. The final results will consider the load/weight ratio and the GWP of each solution.

Materials needed for this activity: printed sheets with basic bridge structures; materials representing different building materials (wooden sticks, paper straws, paper tape, cotton string, hot-melt glue bars, rubber bands), various weights (from 0.2 kg to 5 kg), hook to hold the weights, glue gun, cardboard cutter, scissors, tables, pencils and pens, laptop with Excel and the sheet especially developed for this course, scale.

Methodology for this activity:

1. This activity is designed to be carried out in teams.
2. Explain to participants that this Sustainable Bridge Challenge (SBC) will assess the functional and environmental factors, so that the following must be considered:

   – Participants must choose from the available “building materials,” exposed in a table.

   – Each material has a GWP index associated with the mass used of each material.

1. The span of the bridge will be pre-defined as a condition for the construction of the bridge and the structure of the bridge can be selected from a set of pre-defined structures. Some options for bridge structures on paper to scale will be available. Participants can choose from the proposed designs or come up with their own prototypes. If a team choose the second option, it will have a 10% extra bonus on the sustainability index.
2. To facilitate the development of the SBC, it is recommended to previously weigh each unit of material, (e.g., each wooden stick and paper straw) register in the Excel sheet, and then on the day of the activity, only the requested units are recorded. This will facilitate the logistics of the SBC. To determine the quantity of binding materials used, (e.g., paper tape and Hot-Melt Glue Bars) weigh them before and after use. The difference in weight should be inserted in the Excel sheet, providing the exact amount of binding material consumed.
3. An Excel sheet will be provided to record the amount of materials requested and the tested functional parameter of each team. This will automatically define the winner. The Excel sheet is projected and visible to everyone all the time.
4. The organizers are responsible for delivering the materials requested and recording the quantities in the Excel sheet. At least 1 organizer will be available for each 2 teams.
5. A group in each team will be assigned with the task of capturing photos and videos for the digital storytelling.

Part 1 (2 hours)

1. Build teams of 6-8 participants each.
2. Ask every team to come up with a team name and nominate a representative.
3. Teams discuss the bridge prototype they will build and the materials they will use.
4. Each team’s representative is responsible for requesting materials from the organizers. They can ask for as much materials as needed, but keep in mind that the amount of materials used affects the environmental factor and, therefore, the sustainability index.
5. Organizers register on the Excel sheet the quantity of materials used by each team.
6. Build the bridge.
7.  

Part 2 (1 hour)

1. When the bridges are completely dry, test their strength. Place a bridge so it spans across the gap between two tables. Spread-out newspapers under the bridge to catch falling debris and make clean-up easier.
2. Organizers register on the Excel sheet the maximum load (function parameter).
3. The Excel sheet will display the winner.

Section 4. Preparation and presentation of the Digital storytelling by each team. The organizers will choose a winner of the best presentation (1 hour)

Section 5. Prizes (SBC and Digital Storytelling), group photo, exchange of contacts and wrap-up. (30 minutes)

Learning outcomes:

Participants will be able to understand the importance of the construction sector for society and the relevance of the integration of sustainability principles in this sector. They will learn basic concepts of structural behaviour of bridges and environmental assessment of civil engineering constructions. They will also recognize how the choices of engineers can impact the environment. The course aims to promote among participants: critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving approaches and awareness to the importance of the integration of the sustainability paradigm in the construction sector, in order to take informed decisions and choose better options.

Teaching methods:

This course comprises a lecture that will provide a short theoretical background with an individual quiz to test the previous knowledge of the participants in the subject. Afterwards, a dynamic and interactive hands-on group activity will take place. Finally, a short digital storytelling activity will take place related with the hands-on activity. In each part the participants will be encouraged to intervene and interact between each other and with the organizers. The participants will have to explain their opinions, dialogue and negotiate, and at the end of the hands-on activity present the results and discuss with the rest of the classmates.

Individual/Group: Both