Design Challenge Learning is a 21st-century learning style geared to challenge and innovate students through hands-on activities that foster skills in critical thinking and in solving real world problems.
The Tech, Museum of Innovation is a good resource for design challenge lessons that can be done in less than an hour, 1-2 hours, or over multiple sessions. Lessons are thorough and labeled by grade level. From a teacher’s point of view, the opportunity to observe and question students through their challenge sheds new light on how students get more from a lesson by working together and thinking out loud. Give it a try and see how your students do with the whole engineering process.