Underwater Robots, Speaker Covers, and Power tools

Spring break is fast approaching. I for one am excited which probably means the students are even more excited.


Underwater Robotics:

The robot named "The Apex predator of the Sea: AKA David Hasselhoff" performed great this past Saturday at Pattonville High School. The students worked hard the past three weeks and the hard work paid off!! They won FIRST PLACE in the middle school division tied with Hixon middle school! The robot operated flawlessly and the maneuverability of David Hasselhoff was second to none!



6th Grade: 

Students are hard at work this week learning how to operate Autodesk Inventor, designing their dragsters, and beginning to construct their dragsters.   They get to see their car in 3D before ever using power tools to construct the dragster. I always tell the students their is an undo button on the computer but not on power tools. Knowing that this design process can be used in real world engineering problems is important.

(Designing and printing off plans in Autodesk Inventor)

(For so many students this is the first time they have ever used any type of power tool. The smiles on student's faces when they have succeeded in doing something totally new are great! This is one of the reasons why I love teaching! ) 

7th Grade: 

Next week we will be in the shop constructing our projects full time if students have passed their safety test which we are taking Friday (today). This past week students have finalized their design and created an orthographic or multiview drawing which shows the front, top, and side view of their passive amplification box. Students have also designed their speaker covers which will be 3D printed in the near future. In fact we have already 3D printed a few covers.

On a separate note grades are continuously being updated. Please check on your students grades for missing assignments. I am still missing safety contracts from students that were passed out the very first day of class. They cannot use power tools without this contract signed.




(3D printed speaker covers)


8th Grade: 

This week students were gaining background information regarding how an aircraft can fly by completing a vocabulary assignment and a worksheet on Bernoulli's principle. Students also started brainstorming and creating plans for our next hands on project. We are creating a balsa wood glider that will be launched. The goal of the glider is not distance traveled but how long the glider can stay aloft. Knowing how Bernoulli's principle works and how an airfoil creates lift will help them create a well crafted glider.  
For maker fair Friday we had a few woodworking projects really start taking shape. It is also really neat see a few students learn how to operate their own arduino micro-controller during class.

(two students measuring and getting ready to use the circular saw)