Work in progress - details of implementation of an interdisciplinary pre-engineering activity in a middle school curriculum

One approach to addressing inadequate preparation of students entering engineering has been the introduction of activities with engineering characteristics in the K-12 classroom. This paper will describe the implementation of an interdisciplinary model eliciting activity (MEA) developed for and implemented in a middle school classroom. This activity has students design a model to specify emergency relief housing after a large scale natural disaster such as the 2004 tsunami. This activity was implemented in a seventh grade setting in three courses, meeting state educational standards in all three areas, and was shown to have a positive impact on students' perception of engineering as a helping profession (rather than simply "mechanics" or "people who build stuff"). The paper will present implementation details for the activity within the educational setting of a seventh grade classroom, including addressing educational standards and working with teachers to integrate the activity into the curriculum. The issue should be of interest to individuals or groups designing programs intended for K-12 classrooms: simply designing a program is not effective if it is not integrated into the classroom.