Before the students got to enjoy their week long vacation the week of February 20th, I stole them away for one more lesson. The Engineering the Future class curriculum calls for a unit on fabricating and testing concrete, which Mr. I has been forced to omit for the past two years of teaching the class because he lacked the proper equipment. Being a student of civil engineering here at UML, I have access to the concrete fabrication and testing laboratory located in the basement of Falmouth Hall, so Mr. I and myself brought the entire Engineering the Future class from Lowell High School up to UMass Lowell for a field trip. This way they would be able get at least a little hands on experience with concrete.
The students arrived at the UML around 8:30 the day of the lesson and we headed down to the Concrete Lab. When we got there I showed the students around the lab and gave them another brief introduction on the creation of concrete. I also took that opportunity to explain a little bit about some concrete research taking place in the lab pertaining to the degradation of reinforcing bar within concrete using salt water and electrical currents. Afterward, it was time for the students to make their own concrete. Six of the more daring students in the class came together and began mixing the materials that I had previously weighed out while another student weighed the appropriate amount of water. The water was then added to the mixture and fully integrated. Next the students performed a slump test on the concrete and put the concrete into jars for curing. Finally, I took them into the next room and showed them a compression test on an old concrete core so that they could observe a concrete failure and see the strength it reached.
The lesson for the high school students coincided with their lesson on testing materials which they happened to be just wrapping up. They had tested various materials at the high school including paper, cardboard, and plastics. Since the students had already made the trip to UML, I let them and Mr. I go with Gary Howe, UML’s laboratory technician, to observe a tension test on a steel and aluminum rod while I cleaned the concrete supplies. Afterward, I met up with the group to observe the end of the tension testing using an Instron machine. Lastly, the students took a trip over to UML’s cafeteria to purchase a little food before heading back to the high school.
I will be taking the cores that they created while at UML and testing them at different times to obtain a concrete stress curve with time. This way the students will be able to observe concrete’s ability to continuously gain strength as it cures over time. It reaches what is considered to be a maximum strength after 28 days, but will continue to harden indefinitely. It is likely that Mr. I will want the students to perform some additional form of analysis once the data has been fully compiled.
Well the semester has started back up at UML which can only mean one thing; time to go back to high school! After a little over a month hiatus, it appears as though all three classes have made significant progress in my absence. The engineering class is now deep into their exploration of structural forces, stresses, strains, loads and interactions. When I got back they were actually in the middle of constructing buildings out of straws, tape, and paper clips, which needed to be at least two feet in height and support at least two pounds. Unfortunately, when we tested their structures during this past week only one of them was able to hold the weight. After testing their buildings, Mr. I and myself collaboratively gave a presentation on structural engineering and loads, with specific information from Professor Tsu-Yang Yu and a short study of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse.
The robotics class was in the middle of doing a research project on a modern industrial robot of their choosing. For this project they were asked to create a powerpoint presentation with a minimum of three slides. The students were required to include a slide on the application of the robot, the characteristics of the robot, and their thoughts/analysis on their robot’s need for these specific characteristics based off of their learning from class. For example, a welding robot would need the characteristic trait of motion in three dimensions to be able to reach any areas that require welding. After the students completed presenting their findings, Mr. I gave a presentation on the theory of robotics and shortly the students will be designing and creating their own robots to complete some task.
The CAD class has been focusing on the implementation of dimensions with their AutoCAD drawings. It is important not only that all technical drawings involve dimensions, but also that these dimensions are placed in the correct location and provide the necessary allowable tolerances. Students have been spending time reading the chapters associated with dimensioning and practicing these skills with example drawings using AutoCAD itself.
Lastly, myself and Mr. I sat down during this past week and planned some upcoming lessons for me to work on. These will include, but are not limited to, multiple research updates now that my testing is underway and going smoothly, a demonstration on the creation and testing of concrete which will take place at UML, a demonstration of the structural analysis program GTStrudl, a potential research project on nanorobotics for the robotics class (which could involve collaboration from other fellows), a presentation on the AutoCAD Civil3D Landesktop, and the completion of the Real World Design Challenge. Also, Mr. I has asked whether I would be willing to run and give a presentation of the geotechnical engineering chapter (ch. 14) for the engineering class. It seems like it’s going to be an extremely busy semester, but I’m looking forward to it.
Cheers, Zach
Life has been fairly hectic for the past couple of weeks. I’ve had two term papers due, two presentations, two finals so far, and one final tomorrow. Needless to say, I’ve been quite busy getting everything together and finished on time. Luckily, after tomorrow I will be able to focus on finishing out this semester strong with the high school students and then buckling down on my research. The high school classes are going well and the projects keep moving along. The Engineering class has begun their second project and will be working on that for the next few months. During this time they will investigate loads on structures, concrete properties, and the fundamentals of structural design. The Robotics class has started to work on their second technical report. They have also started deconstructing the protobot they have been using to test for the past month so that they can build and test a new design. Finally, the CAD class is still working on technical drawings but are soon to be at the inception of a new project. This project will also focus on using AutoCAD for design, but instead of mimicking drawings, students will be producing their own.
Unfortunately, due to injuries sustained while playing tennis with another Lowell High and GK-12 teacher, Mr. Iarrapino has to go into surgery this afternoon and will be forced to miss the rest of this week and most of next to recuperate. His wife will be subbing the classes during this time. The students will be continuing their normally scheduled work but with some slight adjustments. The students in engineering will be doing a research paper/presentation on a Hispanic engineer of their choosing. Robotics and CAD will also have extra assignments which are still to be determined. Also, this coming Monday I will be giving a presentation to each class that will serve as a research update and also a lesson on how to manage problems encountered while performing research. One other lesson that I am working on is a lesson on concrete for the Engineering class. This project calls for a unit on concrete, which Mr. I has previously been unable to do in full effect. I have spoken with professors and the concrete canoe team here at UML, and I’ve got the okay to bring the high school students to UML for a demonstration sometime over my winter break. This demonstration will consist of students watching the process of making concrete and the materials involved. They will also get a chance to see what typical strengths concrete can achieve by watching a compression test on a pre-made concrete column. This is the part that the students will really love because they will get to see the concrete be crushed and destroyed.
My final quick update of the day is on the Real World Design Challenge. All of the software has been installed on the computers and the students have begun to dig through and learn certain programs. One student is already close to mastering the design software called Creo Elements. The rest of the students on the project are focusing on learning the terms provided in the objective function, which they need to have defined before they leave for winter break.
Hope everybody is doing well! Since Mr. I is out and I’m going to help with the classes as much as possible while he’s gone, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of updates for you in no time!
Cheers,
Zach
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Not a whole lot to update on this week. I was at the high school yesterday and there were already a lot of kids off celebrating early instead of attending class. The Engineering class has completed the first project and has just about wrapped up their presentations. Soon they will be moving onto the second project to design a building of the future. The Robotics class is currently performing the tests necessary to write their Technical reports, which they will complete after the short break. Finally, the CAD class is just about done with their book drawings.
Along with the new unit in Engineering comes another lesson for me to teach the students. During this unit there is a small unit on concrete that Mr. I has previously omitted from the course. Since I’m a Civil Engineer, Mr. I has asked me to prepare a lesson on concrete. He had asked for a longer version of the powerpoint presentation I had already given on concrete. The unit calls for students to actually make and test their own concrete, so I suggested that I look into setting that up via resources from UML. I am going to hold off on talking to professors about this until the lesson is a little bit closer, but I expect it’s likely that I’ll be able to at least get enough materials to perform a demonstration. More information to come on this idea.
Lastly, but certainly not least-ly, all of the software for the RWDC has been installed on Mr. I’s computers. I have already received an invite from him to sign up to Windchill, although I’ll admit I’m not positive what that does just yet. I’m looking forward to playing around with all of the software after the break!
Happy Holiday!
Cheers, Zach
Who would have thought snow in October would cancel two days of school and Halloween? Well it happened, so a lot of us were left playing catchup and sadly I didn’t get a chance to update my blog last week. Luckily, that gives me plenty to talk about now. Classes are continuing to go well, albeit slowly because of the snow problems. The Engineering class is just about done with their first project, although they are a bit behind schedule. The Robotics class is just about to begin working on their third Protobot. For this unit they will be experimenting with the the two different drive modes offer by the robotics kits; arcade mode using one joystick and tank mode using two joysticks. Once this task is completed the students will write their first technical report. Finally, the CAD class is progressing well and are now working on taking three dimensional drawings and turning them into two dimensional AutoCAD drawings.
I am planning a few upcoming lessons for the classes, Robotics specifically since my research applies the least to their subject. I’m currently still working on a small research project to give the students on nanorobots. They will be asked to do research on a nanorobot of their choosing and write a summary about what they learned. Ideally, this will segue into collaboration with the other fellows who have specific interests in nanomanufacturing and nanorobotics. I will also be designing the final test course that will correspond to one of the robotics units. For this unit the students will build their own robot however they see fit to navigate the test course that I will create, consisting of various ramps and turns. Lastly, I’m also working on updates from my research that I will be able to present in all of the classes. Unfortunately my research has hit a snag because my equipment began to leak and we are waiting on replacement parts to fix it. Once they arrive I should have an update completed in no time.
Also worth mentioning is the Real World Design Challenge. For those who don’t know, the RWDC is a high school competition where a select group of the more advanced students redesign a lightweight aircraft based off of various criteria. There are many aspects to this project including a technical report, engineering notebook, presentation, and many calculations and drawings. Currently, we have selected our project manager, documentation manager, technical project manager, test project manager, and calculation manager, as well as compiled a full team. At our last meeting two students gave individual presentations on terms associated with the project, another gave a presentation on the challenge rubric, and another on the object function that the group is supposed to maximize. Soon we will have all of the required software installed and we’ll be ready to begin the project. Once the project is completed in February, the students will switch gears and begin to work on creating a poster that they will be presenting, with help from myself and fellow Blake Currier, at a college poster symposium.
This has been quite a chaotic week! Sunday was the Engineering Open House at UML which I helped at, Wednesday was the monthly LHS GK-12 meeting, and yesterday we received a call telling us that we need to vacate our lab by today so that they can begin renovations. Luckily, we were able to get them to push back the renovations until Monday morning and we’ve already vacated 85% of our equipment. I suppose it’s good that they’re finally renovating and we’re one step closer to our nice new lab space, but for the time being we’re stuck in a room that was cramped even before adding all of our stuff. Hopefully this turns out to be a quicker process than expected!
Everything has been going great at the high school. The Engineering class is falling slightly behind on their work so I don’t think they will be entirely too pleased when I assign them an additional research project I’m currently developing. To improve their research skills, which Mr. I and myself found lacking, I am thinking about having them research and write a summary on a famous engineer. The students in Robotics have finished testing their second protobot and spent most of this week focusing on the STEM questions. I was able to provide one-on-one help for most of the students, forcing them to delve deeper into the project, use some insight, and really investigate the issues at hand. I also spoke for a time with another fellow, Molly Clay, and she gave me the idea of introducing a section on nano-robots which I think the students will find very interesting. In CAD this week I spent most of my time aiding a select few students who have been having a hard time picking up the basic concepts. In general, most of the class is picking up AutoCAD really well.
The general GK-12 meeting was also very productive this week. A lot of work was put into the STEM Academy because we were joined by the heads of the science and math clubs, with 45 and 75 active members. More information on this will be coming shortly because it is still in the inception phase, but I wanted to leave you with one interesting fact. Massachusetts has the highest math testing proficiency of any state, yet it also has the lowest interest in STEM fields. I think we can turn that statistic around!
Things are progressing well at the high school! Everyone is in full gear and the students are beginning to settle down and focus more on their classwork. The Engineering class is working in groups to complete the project associated with the first quarter of the class, to design the world’s best organizer. This project is encompassing every aspect of the engineering design process from defining the problem to researching about organizers to technical drawings of their organizers, and finally they will be building a prototype. The Robotics class just finished up building and testing their second protobot, this one equipped with an arm capable of picking up and transporting tennis balls. The students all performed three trials to see how quickly they could pick up three tennis balls and put them in a container. Next, they will be analyzing that data in their engineering notebooks and answering the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) questions associated with the project. I am also going to design an assignment over the weekend to give to the students on Monday that will force them to research state of the art robots and attempt to determine the future of the robotics field. Finally, the CAD class is just finishing up their first booklet of AutoCAD drawings and will soon be moving onto more detail on the use of dimensions in AutoCAD as well as dynamic versus static data entry. I am also planning on coming up with some sort of project for the students to research some topic and redesign their topic using AutoCAD.
A new thing that I have been doing for the past couple of weeks is coming in early, at 7:30, before school starts to help students who are having a little bit more trouble grasping the concepts. That provides a 45 minute period where I can work one on one with the students and give them the attention they need to really grasp what is going on. I’ve helped various students from Engineering on different homework tasks. A lot of them seemed to have trouble with task 1.3, which was on technical drawings by hand. One of the students has come four mornings straight for help. I have also had a couple of students from the CAD class come for extra help on their drawings because they only speak a limited amount on English, which is causing them to fall behind during class. I’ve really enjoyed these morning sessions because the students are starting to understand the material and that’s a rewarding feeling.
Finally, the STEM subcommittee is moving along nicely. I don’t want to talk about too much, but we are attempting to plan some sort of project that students of all ages and backgrounds would be interested that deals with STEM material, but particularly the aspects in which the students have shown a weakness. We are gathering that data based off eighth grade MCAS scores from this year’s freshman. Using this data, we can target the specific skill sets that need further emphasis, and make sure that those skills are present in the STEM project. I will have more information on the progress of this group after our general meeting next Wednesday!
On Wednesday I gave my research presentation to all three of my classes. For Engineering and Robotics I prepared a presentation discussing my research and how it pertains to each step of the engineering design process. The presentation for the CAD class was a less specific overview of my research, but I included a large segment on the AutoCAD drawings I made while designing a testing chamber over the summer. I chose to do that because it was more relevant to the CAD class, and a few students from Engineering are back during that period so I didn’t want them to sit through the same presentation twice. I thought that the presentations went really well! In each period there were at least a few kids who were very engaged and asked good questions. One of the students in the Robotics class asked a lot of questions during the presentation and actually stayed after class for a couple minutes to discuss further and even offer some suggestions. Of course there was one or two students in each class with their heads down at some point, but I understand it’s early in the morning and my research won’t be interesting to everybody. Plus, Mr. I would immediately bring their attention back when he saw that. At the end of all three presentations he said that I did a great job. He was also impressed that I kept my energy up even through three consecutive, and very similar, presentations. All in all it was a great experience!
School is back in session! This semester I’m taking three classes. They are Physical and Chemical Treatment Processes, Geotechnical and Environmental Site Characterization, and Hazardous Waste Site Remediation. I’ve been working on getting the final set of testing for my research on the electronic nose underway and I’ve begun researching remediation techniques for soils contaminated with heavy metals. Also, I’ve started helping Mr. Iarrapino with his Engineering the Future, Robotics, and CAD classes on Mondays and Wednesday and Lowell High! It’s already been a great experience meeting and talking with the students.
I’ve attended those classes for the past two weeks and already a lot has happened. My first day in each class I gave a presentation about myself, my decision to go into engineering, the different subdivisions of civil engineering, and I briefly introduced my research. Most recently I gave a quick presentation to the engineering class about concrete and its properties to tie in with a video they watched on rebuilding the World Trade Tower, helped the students construct their first robot in robotics, and helped the CAD class with technical drawings on irregularly shaped blocks. I have also begun going through tutorials on the Solidworks software so that I’m familiar with it when the CAD class gets there. Lastly, I’m looking forward to giving a full presentation on my research one day next week!
Today was the first day of our teaching workshop. The goal of this workshop is to impart upon us active teaching methods for an inquiry based science classroom. Immediately we were informed of two good techniques to follow at the beginning of every class. The first of these to have an objective for the day on the board for the class to read as they are coming into the room. This objective is a learning goal, not a specific activity that will aid in the learning. The second was to have a “Do Now” on the board as a warm up to get the kids active right away. They also told us that it’s important to get to know your students as quickly as possible by meeting them at the door and welcoming them to the class.
After this we began talking about the inquiry based classroom. This is not the place to find a teacher speaking through a powerpoint or simply lecturing and immediately answering the few questions he might ask. The inquiry based classroom relies on questions, questions, questions! It is important to actively ask each student questions for multiple purposes. Based off their answers you can gauge the level of comprehension from each student and then lead them to the right place. When asking these questions, it’s important to phrase them “Why do you think..” because adding the do you think means that even if the student’s thinking may be wrong, he is not incorrect because only he knows what he thinks. It was also emphasized that when students ask you a question it’s better to ask them a question back instead of just telling them, then you can pay attention to them, listen, and adjust.
Next, we spent a little bit of time going over how important it is to plan in advance because students will be at all different levels so you need to be prepared with materials for the more advanced students. We were informed that it’s better not to just throw out vocab at the beginning of a lesson but rather to say it only when it’s applicable. And lastly, we spent a little time going over Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Uncategorized | zacharyhoward | 
March 3, 2012 5:52 am | 
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