You’re a Repairperson!

Objective:

Students will learn about the basic electronic components in a laptop, understand their purpose, recognize symptoms when they fail, and apply this knowledge to troubleshoot, diagnose, and fix common issues.

Deliverable:

  • Completed clue cards

Core Concepts:

  • Engineering Design

  • Troubleshooting

  • Repair

  • Circular Economy

  • Sustainability

Standards Correlations:

This activity correlates to the following Next Generation Science Standards. These standards incorporate the Common Core Literacy Standards. This activity may correlate to other standards, but these are the best fit:

NGSS Engineering Design - Performance Expectations:

  • MS-ETS1-1. Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

  • MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Materials:

  • Room Arrangement/Space Requirements: Pods of desks or large tables where groups of 2-4 students can work together.

  • Technology Requirements: laptop and projector


Procedures:

Activity #1: Warm-up Activity (present in slides)

  • Estimated time: 5 minutes

  • Step-by-Step Instructions:

    • Ask the students: 

      • Have you ever broken something? Did you try to repair it? Did someone else repair it? If not, why not?

      • If you didn’t repair it, what happened to the broken object?

Activity #2: You’re a Repairperson!

  • Estimated time: 45-60 minutes (depending on how many clues students work through) 

  • Step-by-Step Instructions:

    • Use the slide presentation to introduce the activity.

    • Break the students into groups of 2-4. 

    • Pass out a clue to each group. Have each group discuss which failed component would cause the described symptom. 

    • Pass out a device and tools to each group.

    • Ask the students to open their devices, locate the problem component outlined on their clue cards, then remove it. 

      • Remind students that they’ll have to put the device back together once they’re done with the activity. 

    • Depending on time constraints, once students remove their first problem component, either give them another clue to work on or ask them to begin reassembly.

Discussion Topics:

  1. Was opening your device and replacing the component easier or harder than you thought it would be? Why?

  2. What did you discover about how electronic devices are assembled/designed?

  3. Do you feel more confident in repairing your own electronics after this activity?

  4. If an electronic breaks, what are some things we can do instead of throwing it away?

Other Resources: