Alex Ware, Olivia Ramirez, Sophia Judge and Jack Rumohr, all third-graders at Bird Elementary in Plymouth, watch as a fan blows a student's paper boat across their classroom floor last week.
SHHH ... THEY'RE WORKING
Students show paper boats aren't child's play
BY PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER • October 20, 2008
Evan Angel's test engineer badge covered a good portion of his 8-year-old chest. Head down, he concentrated on the notebook in front of him, making rapid notes about the paper boats racing across the classroom floor.
"I'm observating," Evan announced. "We need to know which one goes farther or is best and what to do with it."
Evan and his third-grade classmates at Bird Elementary in Plymouth are practicing being engineers. Every third- and fifth-grade class in Plymouth-Canton Community Schools is partnering with Johnson Controls to give kids practice at working out real engineering problems similar to those pondered by the automotive engineers in the company's Plymouth office.
The Society of Automotive Engineers developed the curriculum, which is used in 500 to 1,000 schools nationwide each year. The goal is to get kids interested in science, technology, engineering and math as early as possible, said Matt Miller, SAE director of education programs.
"Each year, U.S. students fall further behind students in other countries in these subjects," Miller said. "The future is going to call for a greater understanding of science, technology, engineering and math in careers in general."
Plymouth-Canton administrators were so excited about the program, they put it in every elementary school instead of a select few, which is what happens in most districts.
"What we didn't want was to just have one place where kids could experience this," said Janet Kahan, science and math curriculum coordinator.
The Plymouth-Canton students tackled real problems in force and motion the same way an engineer would, but at a smaller size than an automobile. Fifth-graders are building paper cars powered by balloons.
Third-graders are engineering sails on paper boats powered by portable fans. There are enormous decisions to be made. Should the sail be horizontal or vertical, larger or smaller? Should the mast be near the front or farther back on the boat?
Around the classroom, the students were anxiously watching as their boat was placed in front of a fan, hoping they had finally cracked the secret of mast placement.
Evan's boat skimmed 240 centimeters after his latest adjustments, a very good distance. He went with logic in creating his latest version.
"It was right in the middle, so I thought that would be good," said Evan, still taking notes on his results.
Keeping children interested is crucial to the state's economic future, with Michigan projected to need 10,000 to 12,000 more engineers over the next few years, said Ron Smith, director of education for the Engineering Society of Detroit.
As they test, Evan and the other students will begin to discover for themselves why some configurations work better than others.
Nicholas Case, 8 1/2 , is a project engineer, which means he is in charge of his group's efforts. His boat was the best in his group, but another group had an even better one. Nicholas studied the superior boat and decided to lower his sail.
"I think maybe it works better because it's not on top, because some of our group had it on top and it flipped over," Nicholas said, getting his boat ready for another test.
As they tested, Johnson Controls senior technician Joe Zarka kneeled on the floor with the students. He constantly used engineering terms, telling the students they're doing the same types of experiments he does at work, and letting them know each student is a potential engineer.
"These kids think exactly like I do," Zarka said. "Their imaginations work the same way as my imagination. Sometimes they're a little more far-fetched, but it's really very similar to mine, and it's great to listen to their questions."
More than half the students in this class are girls, and girls and boys were equally involved in the engineering problems.
"We're actively recruiting minorities and women because we think that's untapped talent," said David Munson, dean of the University of Michigan's College of Engineering. "Engineers create new things. I think kids and their parents need to understand that."
Contact PEGGY WALSH-SARNECKI at 586-826-7262.
No comments:
Post a Comment