Lesson plan and Resources for STEM Engineering challenge to create a package for Milk.

1. Thinking by Design
Stage 2 Term 3 2015
Outcomes:
ST3-16P Describes systems used to produce or manufacture products, and the social and environmental
influences on product design
 Students redesign a product to respond to a specific social or environmental consequence, eg
redesign the packaging of a food product to reduce garbage CCTSE
ST3-5WT A student plans and implements a design process, selecting a range of tools, equipment,
materials and techniques to produce solutions that address the design criteria and identified constraints
Students explore and define a task by:
 developing design criteria that considers, where relevant, function, aesthetics, social and
environmental considerations
Students generate and develop ideas by:
 selecting and using creative thinking techniques, including mind-mapping, brainstorming, sketching
and modelling
 identifying a range of appropriate materials for the task
 selecting and using techniques to investigate the suitability of materials
Students produce solutions by:
 for a design project, selecting and safely using a range of tools, equipment and related techniques
to cut, edit, join, manipulate and shape materials and/or information
Students evaluate by:
 identifying the strengths and limitations of the process used CCT
 self or peer assessing the final product by using the established design criteria PSC.
Resources
 https://www.teachengineering.org/view_lesson.php?url=collection/duk_/lessons/duk_foodpackage_
music_less/duk_foodpackage_music_less.xml
 http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/snack-attack-food-packaging/
Introduction
Learning Intentions
After this activity, students should be able to:

2.  Identify four functions of a food package.
 Explain how each food package design works.
 Identify the chemical and physical changes different types of materials prevent or facilitate.
 Explain what a food packaging engineer does.
Did you know that a huge field of engineering exists with the purpose of designing packages for different
food products? Today, we are going to look at some packages that engineers have already designed and
see why they made them the way they did. Do you ever drink a beverage from a plastic or glass bottle?
(Hold up a soda bottle.) Have you ever wondered why a bottle is designed the way it is? What are some of
the qualities of this bottle and the reasons why the bottle has those characteristics? (Listen to student ideas
and write them on the classroom board.)
Photograph of three grocery store shelves with baking items in various containers, such as flour and grains
in paper sacks, sugar in plastic bags, plastic canisters and cardboard boxes.
Now, let’s look at this bag of flour. (Hold up a bag of flour.) What is different about the characteristics of this
bag compared to those of a soda bottle? (Main differences: material and structure.) Why do you think that
the bag is so different from the bottle?
Now look at these two other packages. (Hold up a package of soup or noodles that can be heated and a
food in a plastic bag.) Please write down the qualities of these packages and why you think they have those
characteristics.
Considering all these packaging examples and the reasons for each of the packages, let's brainstorm three
important functions of food packages, besides containing the food.
 To keep the food clean.
 To protect the food product from unwanted physical and chemical changes (such as oxidation and
destruction from insects) and to facilitate in desired physical changes (such as heating or cooling).
 To identify the product and provide sales appeal.
Now please write beside each characteristic you wrote down, what function is being fulfilled. As you can
see, the materials that make a package plays a huge role in its functioning. If you want to be able to put
your food and package in the microwave, would you make the package of metal? Why not? If you want to
make sure your food will not be crushed by something heavy, would you put your food in a plastic bag?
Would you put a liquid in a package made of paper?
Besides a package's materials, its structural design is very important for its functions. What type of food
package structures can you think of?
 cartons (milk carton)
 boxes (cereal box)
 bags (bag of chips/bag of vegetables)
 cans (can of soup)
 bottles (bottle of soda)
 wrappers (candy)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of these package structures?
Let's look at these two different packages for the same food. (Bring out a food packaged aesthetically and
the same food packaged less appealingly.) Which one would you rather buy? What qualities does that
package have that the other does not? (A symmetrically shaped package, a pretty label, a nicely colored
package, etc).

3. Design Challenge Outline
Procedure
1. Show students the student reference sheets. These may be read in class or provided as reading material
for the prior night's homework.
2. To introduce the lesson, discuss how engineers design packaging differently fordifferent items and that
when the items must remain fresh (such as flowers) or alive (such as an organ scheduled for transplant)
the packaging requires planning and engineering to make sure the product survives.
3. Divide your class into teams of 2-3 engineers. Explain that they need to develop a packaging system that
will allow a watertight package that will contain milk to be transported and stored. Student teams with the
packaging closest to 500ml capacity and innovative design to achieve the goal receive extra points in the
activity. The packages need to survive a trip to the teacher’s house and stored overnight.
4. Teams consider their challenge, develop a plan on paper, then present their designsto the class. They
may adjust their designs after receiving class feedback.
5. Teams next build their design, wait 24 hours and examine their packaging after being transported.
6. Teams complete a reflection sheet, evaluating their experience with the lesson.

4. Dairy Design
Student Resource:
Packaging Engineering and Transporting Dairy
Many items, from eggs in the local market, to organs rushed to a hospital, require special packaging to
ensure they arrive safely and in good condition at their destination.
Packaging Options
Engineers often work with marketing, sales, and perhaps a creative department when recommending
packaging requirement for a product. Good packaging must protect the product, eliminate any damage
while moving, shipping, or storing the products, and also make the product attractive if it is to be displayed
in a consumer environment such as a grocery store, hardware store, or department store. For this reason,
packaging is a critical part of a product's design and engineering process, and engineers must take many
factors into consideration including appearance, function, and costs.
Material Selection
Engineers have to consider the durability, cost, and performance of different materials when designing
products and the package they will ship or be displayed in. Many factors will help determine which
materials to use, such as how long the package will be on the product, how fragile or expensive the product
is, and whether exposure to temperature or humidity would impact the performance of the product.
Caring for Dairy
Dairy products, especially liquids, need to be kept in container that can be refrigerated. The contents need
to keep, so that there is no evaporation or changes allowed from the environment. The container needs to
be watertight and tamperproof. Consideration needs to be given to the way that packaging can be
transported, minimizing space when the packages are put into crates.
Engineering Teamwork and Planning
You are a team of manufacturing engineers given the challenge of designing a package that can safely ship
500mls of milk. The milk must be sealed and the container waterproof. It must be able to hold the liquid for
24 hours and enable the milk to be easily transported. The milk must still be fresh when opened. Extra
points will be given to the container that is closest to 500ml capacity; as well the aesthetic appeal of the
container will also be given additional points.

5. Planning and Design Phase
Your team has been provided with a set of materials. Review these as a group and drawyour packaging
design in the box below or use another page. Think about how your design will hold milk, minimize the
amount of joins and the way that container is to be waterproofed.

6. Dairy Design
Stu dent Worksheet:
Construction Phase
Build your package, and be sure to put your team's name or number on the box for easyidentification.
Then, answer the questions below:
1. How similar was your design to the actual package you built.
2. If you found you needed to make changes during the construction phase, describe whyyour team
decided to make revisions.
3. Do you think that packaging engineers often change their original plans during the manufacturing or
construction process?

7. Shipping Phase
Your teacher will devise a shipping system for all the packages created in your classroom.This may entail
simply storing the boxes for 24 hours, or taking them to their home to then be transported back to school.
Evaluation Phase
Once all the packages have been transported, you will work in teams to evaluate the packages and
determine the condition of the quality of the milk.
Scoring
The following scores must be made for each incoming package. The box with the smallest overall capacity
of 500ml gains a bonus of 2 points:
Package Number Effective
Waterproofing
0 - no milk
1 – some milk
2 – lots of milk
Freshness of
Milk
0 contamination
1-very little
contamination
2- no
contamination
Presentation
0 -minimal
presentation
1- neat and
tidy
2 -attractive
Innovation
0 – minimal
1 some
innovation
2 innovative
and creative
Total