SECME/M-DCPS STEM Engineering Modules
The concern about the technical preparation of students in the United States has been thoroughly described by many authors. One government document summarizes the situation:
There is growing concern that the United States is not preparing a
sufficient number of students, teachers, and practitioners in the areas of
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A large majority of
secondary school students fail to reach proficiency in math and science, and many
are taught by teachers lacking adequate subject matter knowledge http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33434.pdf
In response to this documented and growing concern, a part of Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ Math Matters Every Day collected resources helps teachers facilitate the development of sophisticated and equipped problem solving students through competitive engineering problems that tie directly into their daily curricula.
The
Engineering Design Process:
Engineers use a process that is similar to
what you use when you perform a science experiment. They use a step-by-step procedure to lead them to the answer to a
particular problem.
The difference
between the scientist and the engineer is that while the scientist may spend
much time looking for answers, often pursuing the most general understanding of
an underlying principle, the engineer will usually narrow the time frame
allotted for an answer and narrow the definition of both the problem and the
“answer.”
The engineering
answer to a problem may change radically, simply due to a change in financing.
Engineering involves
the process of identifying the parameters for both the problem and the solution
and using them to evaluate possible solutions for a particular problem.
Read more about the
Dartmouth/Thayer School
of Engineering’s
steps to engineering solutions: Click
here for related activities:
[Step 1: State
the Problem] [Activity
1]
[Step 2:
Redefine the Problem (I)] [Activity
2]
[Step 3:
Identify Constraints] [Activity
3]
[Step 4:
Identify Alternative Solutions] [Activity
4]
[Step 5: Select
the Most Viable Solution] [Activity
5]
[Step 6:
Redefine the Problem (II)] [Activity
6]
[Step 7: Refine
and Add Specs] [Activity
7]
[Step 8:
Brainstorm Alternatives] [Activity
8]
[Step 9:
Reiterate Until the Problem is Solved] [Activity 9]
[Step
10:Select the Most Viable Alternative] [Activity
10]
This process should be applied to the following classroom activities that will illustrate many of the theoretical principles the students struggle to grasp:
Engineering Projects
Chemical Engineers Working on the Energy Crisis
©Lockheed Martin Corporation
(NEED PERMISSION! http://www.discoverengineering.org/Engineers/aerospace_engineering.asp)
Modeling Air Flow Around a Fighter
Bottle Rockets
Slideshow to Teach Rules of SECME/M-DCPS Water-Bottle Rockets Competition
Slideshow to Teach Background Science of Water-Bottle Rockets
Slideshow to Teach How to Build Water-Bottle Rockets
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WATER ROCKETS OVERVIEW
From
NASA
Bottle
rockets or water rockets, what are they?
![bottle rocket]()
When someone
mentions bottle rockets, do you envision placing a firecracker attached to a
stick into a glass bottle and launching it?
Water
rockets have been a source of entertainment and education for many years. They
are usually made with an empty two-liter plastic soda bottle by adding water
and pressurizing it with air for launching (like the accompanying image).
Soda
companies began using plastic bottles in 1970. The Polyethylene Terephthalate
(PET) material used in most plastic soda bottles today was introduced in 1973.
Water
rockets are used in schools to help students understand the principles of
aeronautics. The Science Olympiads provide challenges of bottle rocket design
and flight, including altitudes and distances reached. Many interesting designs
and additional information on bottle rockets can be found with a simple Web
search.
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Background Science
How do water-bottle rocket work?
Newton's third law is at work here: the bottle
pushes some its water downward and the water responds by pushing upward on the
bottle, propelling the bottle upward. In that respect, the water-bottle rocket
is like any other rocket. All a rocket needs is fuel and energy. Pushing the
fuel backward is what propels the rocket forward-action and reaction. Energy is
what allows the rocket to push that fuel backward. In many rockets, the fuel
and the energy source are the same thing. Chemical reactions in the fuel
release energy and this energy allows the rocket to push the fuel backward.
However, the water-bottle rocket uses two separate
materials as fuel and energy source. The fuel is water and the energy source is
compressed air. Having water as the fuel makes sense because water is dense and
provides lots of inertia for the rocket to push against as it throws water
backward out its tail. Having the compressed air as fuel is a good idea because
it has little weight for the amount of energy it stores and doesn't load down
the rocket.
At launch, most of the water-bottle rocket's mass
is water. And with air packed tightly inside, the rocket has lots of energy.
When you finally let water start streaming out of the bottle, the compressed
air pushes downward hard on the water and the water pushes upward hard on the
compressed air. The air conveys this upward force to the entire bottle and up
it goes.
From PhysicsCentral
More Ask Lou Teaching Scientific Principles of Rocketry Slideshow
Bottle Rocket Launch
(Movie)
Basic Bottle Rocket Instructions
Rocket
Launch Demo (You specify parameters for launch and watch the simulation
results.)
Components of the Water-Bottle Rocket
"Kind
of a Drag" - WATER ROCKET DRAG
Bridge
Components of Bridges – there are several types of Bridges (see below), so many components of bridges
Slideshow to Teach Students History and Scientific Principles of Bridges
An Online Index of Great Bridge Facts and Activities
BRIDGE OVERVIEW
From HowStuffWorks:
“There's no doubt you've seen a bridge, and it's almost as likely that you've
traveled over one. If you've ever laid a plank or log down over a stream to
keep from getting wet, you've even constructed a bridge. Bridges are truly
ubiquitous — a natural part of everyday life. A bridge provides passage over
some sort of obstacle: a river, a valley, a road, a set of railroad tracks...
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Background Science
From HowStuffWorks:
Each type of “bridge…deals with two important forces called compression and tension differently:
Compression is a force that acts to compress or shorten the thing it is acting on.
Tension is a force that acts to expand or lengthen the thing it is acting on.
A simple, everyday example of compression and tension is a spring. When we press down, or push the two ends of the spring together, we compress it. The force of compression shortens the spring. When we pull up, or pull apart the two ends, we create tension in the spring. The force of tension lengthens the spring.
Compression and tension are present in all bridges, and it's the job of the bridge design to handle these forces without buckling or snapping. Buckling is what happens when the force of compression overcomes an object's ability to handle compression, and snapping is what happens when the force of tension overcomes an object's ability to handle tension. The best way to deal with these forces is to either dissipate them or transfer them. To dissipate force is to spread it out over a greater area, so that no one spot has to bear the brunt of the concentrated force. To transfer force is to move it from an area of weakness to an area of strength, an area designed to handle the force.
An arch bridge is a good example of dissipation, while a suspension bridge is a good example of transference.”
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Three Types of Bridge
This is “the
companion site to "Super Bridge,"
originally broadcast in November, 1997.
The NOVA program chronicles
the building of the state-of-the-art Clark Bridge over the
Mississippi River. On this
Web site, you can test your engineering skills by trying to
match the right bridge to
the right location.”
Click the “NOVA” graphic
above to visit PBS’ Bridge Site and try your hand at the engineering
and decision-making that go
into building bridges!
Mousetrap Car
Components of the Mousetrap Car
Slideshow to Teach Principles, Science, and Rules of Competitive Mousetrap Cars for SECME/M-DCPS
MOUSETRAP CAR OVERVIEW
A mousetrap car is a miniature vehicle powered by the spring device of a mousetrap. Building mousetrap cars is used as a project in many middle school and high school science classes.
The
mousetrap car is a problem solving activity in which students are encouraged to
develop a self-propelled vehicle by harnessing the potential energy that can be
stored in a mousetrap spring and transferring it to wheels to propel the
vehicle. Many challenges must be solved, including developing methods to
transfer power, optimizing the ratio of various part sizes, maximizing the
car's performance with minimum weight, overcoming friction, and attaching parts
to the car.
Doc Fizzix says: There is no one "right way" to build a mousetrap powered vehicle. The best approach is to apply your best understanding of the laws of physics without over exaggerating any one concept to your design. To build the "perfect" mousetrap racer you must try and find a harmonious balance between all the elements and variables that will affect a mouse trap vehicles performance.
The first step to making a good mouse trap powered car is simple, put something together and find out how it works. Once you have something working you can begin to isolate the variables that are affecting the performance and learn to adjust to improve your results.
Building mousetrap cars is a simple process of design engineering: you build, you test and experiment, you change, and you do it all over again.
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Background Science
The spring of a mousetrap can store a considerable amount of
potential energy when it is pulled back and its tension is increased. When
released, this energy can be transformed into the kinetic energy of movement,
making the mousetrap the perfect "motor" for a homemade car. As the trap
closes, the metal bar pulls a string that has been wound around the axle of the
mousetrap car. Alternatively, the spring may turn a series of gears. This causes the axle and attached wheels to
spin, propelling the car forward.
Scientific concepts that might be covered in the course of a mousetrap car project include:
- Kinetic and Potential Energy
- Mousetrap Cars and Newton's Laws
- Mousetrap Cars and Torque
- Mousetrap Cars and Friction
- Rotational Inertia and Mousetrap Cars
- Wheels and Axles for Mousetrap Racers
- Increasing Wheel Traction
- Wheel
and axle
- Levers
- potential and kinetic
energy
- Hooke's
law
- Inertia
- Rotational inertia
- Torque
- Work
- Power
More Doc Fizzix’ Mousetrap
Cars
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Components of the Mousetrap Car
Sand Structure
Components of the Sand Structure
SAND STRUCTURE OVERVIEW
From Miami Museum of Science’s How Many Grains of Sand Are in the World?
Have you ever seen sand outside? Where was it? You might have seen it on the beach, or perhaps in a desert. But sand is on the move, from the highest mountains to the bottom of the ocean. Sand can be found almost anywhere in the world.
Africa has two of the most interesting places to see sand. In northern Africa, the Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world, and most of it is covered in sand. In southern Africa, the Namibian Sand Dunes are the talles sand dunes in the world, about 200 meters (650 feet) high.
So how many grains of sand are there in the world? You could start off by trying to guess how many grains of sand there are in a spoon of sand. Use a magnifying glass to count how many grains fit in a small section. Then, count how many of those sections fit in your spoon. Multiply the two numbers together to get an estimate.
Using this same principle, plus some additional information, mathematicians at the University of Hawaii tried to guess how many grains of sand are on the world's beaches. They came up with 7,500,000,000,000,000,000, or seven quintillion five quadrillion grains of sand.
Many aspects of Science and Math can be taught by “Playing” with sand, including competing with Sand Structures (artistically as well as structurally – tallest, closest to wave action, etc.).
.
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Background Science
From Sand Castle Central: a few words about "what makes sand stand." The secret to throwing sand up in the air and convincing it to stay there long enough to be carved into something spectacular is compaction.
There are three ways to compact sand: "softpack" is the most intuitive: pack and pat moist sand into a mound that roughly resembles the shape you are envisioning. "Handstacking" will help you reach greater heights in altitude while letting water and gravity do the compacting for you. But if you want to "go big", then you will want to give forms a try. Serious sand sculptors usually use a combination of these three methods.
But why does damp sand magically hold the shape of a container after you dump it out?
From Castles in the Sand: Amazingly enough, only recently have scientists approached this earth-shaking question as a problem of basic physics. Still, the influence of dampness on tiny particles is a big deal for any factory that handles powder, in industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to agriculture. (Plugged plumbing is not just a problem in the cardiac biz.)
In research reported on June 18, 1997, in the science journal Nature, Notre Dame University physicists Peter Schiffer, Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and colleagues have pinned the clumping of damp grains to the same phenomenon that causes water to bead up on a waxy Ferrari.
On a Ferrari, it's called "surface tension." In a sandbox, damp grains stick together by what Schiffer calls "interstitial liquid bridges."
To measure the phenomenon, Schiffer and his group rounded up some polystyrene spheres, each 0.8 millimeter in diameter, and mixed them with a smidgen -- less than 1 percent by weight -- of oil.
Then they put this mess in a container, and measured the angle of the cone that formed when they pulled the plug on the bottom. As they gradually increased the oil content, the glop began holding a steeper angle. Then, rather suddenly, "Clumping takes over, and instead of particles moving as individuals, they move as a clump," Schiffer says.
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Components of the Sand Structure
Forms
- From Dale Murdock’s Sand
Sculpture/Sand School
Forms are used to contain sand for compacting and are placed in the general shape of the sculpture to be. Forms can be plywood panels linked together with wood cross members on top and bottom as seen below. Wood forms are heavy, expensive, difficult to move and store.
Plastic pool liners for in ground pools can be cut to two foot height and clamped at their overlapped edges to form whatever circular size you need and rolled to be stored in a plastic garbage can.
Forms can be as simple as a garbage bucket with the bottom cut out and inversed. (Remember to leave a lip on the plastic garbage bucket and sand the edges, their sharp!) Plastic garbage cans are easy to store and you can make several different sizes as you need for towers, heads, etc. There are plastic containers that look like giant garbage pails for roof drainage that are huge and complete enough to do some larger sculpted forms.
When you begin, fill the form with about six to ten inches of sand and depending on how wet the sand is, add water. If the sand is heavy grained and doesn't hold together well, use lots of water. If it pools on top, it may be too dirty, having too much silt, clay, etc. It will slump if water is added, be weak and unstable. Too many heavy grains and it will be weak as well. Fine sand is the best.
Use a tamper of some description, your feet, or fists to ram the sand solid. Continue to add sand in layers, water and ramming the sand solid until you reach the top.
Stack another smaller form on top. (Wood or plastic). Continue until you reach your final height.
Release the first form. If it is wood, the forms are best held in place by a method that is easy to release. Do not nail them together, if you do, remember that you have to take the nails out! Leave an inch of the head exposed to use a crowbar or pry-bar to remove the nails smoothly and gently. No hammering as it will crack the block inside or if you have descended it will crack or break everything above. Lag bolts can be used, holes drilled through the two overlapping members and steel rods inserted. All have their pros and cons. Lags can break when you unwind them, steel rods can bend making removal difficult or impossible. Nails can get chewy and bend too as the pressure in these boxes can be enormous. Watch when you remove the bigger ones on the bottom later on as the pressure can make them pop out at you and land on your bare feet.
Rubber Band Car
Components of the Rubber Band Car
Slideshow to Teach Principles, Science, and Rules of Competitive Rubber Band Cars for SECME/M-DCPS
RUBBER BAND CAR OVERVIEW
The rubber band car is intended to be a slightly less formidable challenge to the beginning engineer than the mousetrap car...but as any budding engineer knows - there's a lot of science, math, and hands-on skill that can be focused on even the rubber band car. Like with the mousetrap car, the challenge is to build the lightest, shortest rubber band powered car that travels the greatest distance.
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Background Science
The Mayan People used latex to rubber for entertainment and functional uses. Latex is the sap of various plants, mostly from the rubber tree. If you expose the sap to the air it hardens and become 'rubbery'. Over the year various cultures learnt that if you add certain other juices and saps to the mass it becomes more elastic and lasts longer. Modern Rubber - About 3/4's of the world rubber now come from crude oil. In general, to make synthetic rubber, byproducts of petroleum refining called butadiene and styrene are combined in a reactor containing soapsuds. A milky looking liquid latex results. The latex is coagulated from the liquid and results in rubber "crumbs" that can be melted down and used.
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Components of the Rubber Band Car
Propulsion "How to Stretch It"
Free Design
Engineering Problem Solving Background
FREE DESIGN OVERVIEW
Guided Independent Research.
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Problem Solving Background
There are many approaches to problem solving, depending on the nature of the problem and the people involved in the problem. The more traditional, rational approach is typically used and involves, eg, clarifying description of the problem, analyzing causes, identifying alternatives, assessing each alternative, choosing one, implementing it, and evaluating whether the problem was solved or not. Another, more state-of-the-art approach is appreciative inquiry. That approach asserts that "problems" are often the result of our own perspectives on a phenomena, eg, if we look at it as a "problem," then it will become one and we'll probably get very stuck on the "problem." Appreciative inquiry includes identification of our best times about the situation in the past, wishing and thinking about what worked best then, visioning what we want in the future, and building from our strengths to work toward our vision. The activities of problem solving and decision making are closely intertwined, so the reader will often find mention of the two topics together. Click here for more
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reading.
Components
Problem Solving Games
Problem Solving Competitions
Last revised: 6/27/2007