Knee Brace Design

Second grade students have been building on their study of the human body to learn about the basics of biomedical engineering in a design project to construct a knee brace.

The project began by defining what makes an object a "technology.” Students examined items like safety goggles and silicone gloves, discussing how someone created those objects to solve a problem. To kick off their specific design challenge, second graders listened to the story, Erik’s Unexpected Twist, about a group of students who must design a knee brace out of materials they have on hand when one of them gets hurt on a camping trip. The guiding question for the Fay designers was, How can we use our knowledge of how a knee moves, materials, and the Design Process to design a brace for an injured knee?

Students refreshed their knowledge of the parts of the knee and how a healthy knee moves to understand the types of movement a knee brace must allow and prevent. Using a goniometer, students tested the range of motion of their own knees as they tried to bend them in different directions. Design Teacher Deborah Morrone Bianco introduced students to the injured knee model they would use to design their knee brace and the materials they could use, including duct tape, felt, velcro, rubber bands, cardboard, and foam. Working in pairs, each team analyzed the properties of their materials, noting which items were suitable for adding rigidity, flexibility, and comfort and thinking about how they could be used in their design. Students brainstormed their design ideas on their “Imagine” sheet, worked together to merge their ideas into a single design, and then started to build.

Various challenges arose during the construction process, from designs that kept falling apart to braces that were too small, too rigid, or not rigid enough. Before finalizing their designs, each group got up in front of the class and presented their brace to get feedback. Testing their knee braces on the injured knee prototype revealed where some designs still needed improvement. “Having to test out their designs and rework them several times was challenging,” says second grade teacher Jessica Nichols, “but because they started by reading the story, they also knew that they were designing something to solve a real problem, so they understood why it had to work.” Interestingly, students noticed that some simpler designs that used less material but in very targeted ways seemed the most effective. Reflecting on the experience, Alexia K. ‘30 says, “I enjoyed the project because even though we made a lot of mistakes, we would solve them in funny ways, which made it exciting.”

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Knee Brace Design