The WEngineer Online Summer Academy: DesignMine just wrapped up today! It has been an amazing week and the students learned so many different kinds of engineering with HANDS ON activities!
The first day they learned about simple machines and had a chance to create a catapult out of popsicle sticks and rubber bands. To demonstrate their knowledge of design and simple machines, we gave them a Week-Long challenge to create their own Rube Goldberg project. A Rube Goldberg machine uses a complex mechanism to achieve a simple result. This week, the simple result was turning off a light switch. The winner will receive a SUR-PRIZE and have a spotlight feature on our blog! Stay tuned for an email and new blog post about our winner and their prize!
The second day we covered sketching. Students learned the two primary methods of sketching: Isometric and Oblique. They learned about the benefits and drawbacks of each method. They also learned about why one was preferred and how engineering sketching was different from normal drawing, like art. Students were given challenges to draw, and for the final challenge was to draw something they found in their room!
The third day we covered the design process and the importance of prototyping. We covered a few different types of prototype testing. Students were given two challenges this day. One was to build the tallest prototype tower out of sticky notes and tape for the country of WEngineeria, and the second was to construct a prototype parachute to safely and slowly land the new NASA Perseverance rover on Mars.
An amazing example of a student's prototype tower! ->
The fourth day we covered aerospace engineering and learned about the basic physics involved and how to create force diagrams.Their daily project on day 4 was creating a prototype shock absorber for astronauts to safely touch down on Mars.
<- Incredible shock absorber prototype by a student
The fifth and final day was Rube Goldberg and Structural Engineering. The students learned about this vast field of engineering. They also learned about Geometric Structures, and completed a hands-on activity using thread and straws to create a geometric shape. Finally, they watched each other’s Rube Goldberg projects and voted for their favorite. The winner will be ANNOUNCED VERY SOON!
Thanks to all the parents and students that joined us for our first virtual academy and we hope you and your students had as much fun attending it as we had teaching it!
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