Lathrop Engineering
Makeup Work
Missing class for a few days? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Here you’ll find all the options for makeup work so that you can earn credit for the days you missed. All you’ll need is internet access and time to read, watch, listen, think, and write.
Here’s What You Need to Do
So you’re missing class. Maybe you’re out sick for a few days, travelling with a sports team or school activity, or off on vacation with your family. Whenever you miss class for an extended time, you’ll need to make up your participation for your class. This has two aspects to it:
First: You are still responsible for having your current unit done and turned in by the assigned due-date. If you will be absent for that due date, then you need to have your unit completed and submitted before you leave!
Second: You need to make up for your presence and participation in class. To do this, you need to keep thinking about math, science, engineering, and improving the world! This page has all the options available to you for making up that time. Here’s what you do:
- Figure out how many engineering class periods you’ll be missing
- Every class period you miss requires 1 credit of makeup work
- Pick from the options below so that the total credits earned will equal or exceed the number of class periods that you’ll be missing
- Complete the makeup work you chose by doing the tasks listed
- Write your responses in your engineering notebook, or in the connected Google form
Sorry, but you cannot earn extra credit for doing additional makeup work items. You also cannot “bank” or “save” makeup credit for later use.
Third: Just because you are absent from class does not excuse you from needing to complete your regular course unit on time! Have a plan for getting your unit of work done by the due date even though you’ve missed some class. That can be tough, so talk to Mr. Benshoof if there are any problems or questions.
Example Absence
Julia is gone from school for the state hockey championships for four days. During that time, she will miss her Engineering & Robotics class a total of 3 times. Since she will miss class 3 meetings, she needs to do 3 credits worth of makeup tasks.
Julia decides that she wants to do some problem solving, so she earns 1 credit by doing the “Engineering Design Process” challenge.
She also has time in a car that she can listen to her headphones, so she earns her next 2 credits by doing the “Smiler Response” challenge by listening to the linked podcast and then writing a response.
Since those two activities together equal 3 credits, she can turn in her work to Mr. Benshoof when she gets back home and she’ll be all caught up on her missed classes.
Now she just needs to make sure she can turn in the current unit on time!
Makeup Work Options
1 Credit Makeup Options
Engineering Design Process
Use the Engineering Design Process to brainstorm solutions to a problem
Read & Think
Read a 1-page article on creativity and respond to a few thinking questions
Watch & Think
Watch a short engineering video and respond to a few questions
Photographing Engineering
Take photos or videos of cool engineering stuff! #LHSEngineers
Engineering Design Process
What you need to turn in:
⊕ Design Brief
⊕ Brainstorm List
⊕ Decision Matrix
⊕ Sketch/Drawing
(1 Credit) Engineering Design Process Makeup Assignment
The world around us is begging for improvements! From more comfortable seating in cars and airplanes, to more efficient lines at coffee shops or safer pedestrian crosswalks. This makeup assignment asks you to pick a real-world pain point, and work through the Engineering Design Process to develop your own solution to the problem. Here’s what you need to do:
- Pick a real-world pain point (problem) that you can see around you
- Write a complete Design Brief to define the problem
- Brainstorm and record at least 15 different solutions/improvements for the problem you identified
- Use a Decision Matrix to pick between your 3 best ideas
- Draw and label a careful picture of what your solution would look like if it was built or put into practice! Make sure that your picture is very detailed.
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Read & Think
What you need to turn in:
⊕ Improvements Brainstorm
⊕ Written Feedback
⊕ Future Ideas
(1 Credit) READ & THINK MAKEUP ASSIGNMENT
One great way to get your brain thinking about engineering & design is to see what other people are working on. Fortunately, our class has a blog that is growing bigger and bigger, as new projects are completed. This makeup assignment asks you to read about a Lathrop Engineering project, and to reflect on how it could have been done differently. Here’s what you need to do:
- Pick a blog post from our Lathrop Engineering Blog (a few options are below, but you can pick any of the posts from our full blog here)
- Read the entire blog post, including the “Design Brief”, “The Build”, and the “Feedback & Future Steps” sections
- Think about what they built and how it came together
- Answer the response questions in the Google Form linked here. These questions include some brainstorming, giving some feedback, and thinking about possible improvements
Lathrop Engineering Blog
The First Kayak
Z Design BriefProblem Statement: We wanted to build a pair of wooden kayaks from plywood, mostly to see if it was possible for us to do it Deadline: 3 months (end of summer) Audience & Scope: The builder and their close friends (who might use the...
Drone Racing Club
Z Design BriefProblem Statement: We wanted a way to learn how to fly drones both in line-of-sight and also using FPV. We wanted to be able to adjust, build, and fix our own simple FPV drones for racing. Deadline: 2 months (4th quarter) Audience & Scope:...
Arcade Machine
Z Design BriefProblem Statement: We want to build a functionin arcade machine that can allow up to four players to play classic arcade games, and maybe even games we program ourselves. Deadline: 3 months (end of summer) Audience & Scope: Students at...
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Watch & Think
What you need to turn in:
Design Brief
Brainstorm List
Decision Matrix
Sketch/Drawing
(1 Credit) Watch & THINK Makeup Assignment
Professional designers and engineers do a lot of really cool work out in the ‘real world’. It’s worth taking some time to see what they’re up to! This makeup assignment asks you to pick a short video from the options below, watch it (they’re all about 10 minutes), and then do some thinking and brainstorming before providing your own feedback. Here’s what you need to do:
- Pick a video from the gallery of options below
- Watch the video and pay attention to the engineering ideas presented
- Use the Google Form to organize your thinking as you brainstorm applications of the ideas presented in the video.
Industrial Design Ideas
(9:12)
Celebrating Failure in Engineering
(15:32)
Tips for Engineerings Students
(7:10)
How Traffic Signals Work
(12:36)
Why We Need Engineers
(10:42)
Meet Spot: The Robot Dog
(14:33)
NASA & The Wheel
(9:22)
Missing Skills of Engineers
(7:26)
A Day in the LIfe of an Architect
(14:45)
What is Mechancial Engineering? (14:13)
Secret of Great Design
(16:41)
How Much Math in Engineering?
(10:46)
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Photographing Engineering
What you need to turn in:
⊕ 4 Photo or Video social media posts of cool engineering tools, spaces, machines, or structures with a short message to go with it
⊕ Your posts should include the hashtag #LHSEngineers
⊕ Your posts need to be uploaded to your preferred social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
(1 Credit) Photographing Engineering
Engineers & Designers have worked hard throughout time to make things that improve the world. This makeup assignment asks you to use social media to share cool engineering & design things you find in the world. Here’s what you need to do:
- Explore your world for cool engineering solutions, tools, machines, or structures
- Find 4 things you want to share with others!
- Take a photo or a short video and record at least 15 different solutions/improvements for the problem you identified
- Post your photos or videos to your preferred social media platform along with a few words that describe what makes the thing extra cool
- Tag your posts with the hashtag #LHSEngineers so that other Lathrop Engineers can see what you found!