Category: Middle School
As you may know, Oregon has adopted the Next Generation Science Standards and the hope is that all states will too. These standards can be difficult to navigate and we are here to help. This source is here to make it a little easier. National Science Teachers Association has a blog that they hope will connect teachers with helpful lesson plans for these standards. Check it out!
We stumbled upon this great activity for middle school science teachers. In this activity students are to learn how to navigate magnetic fields, just like sea turtles do. This great activity only requires a few supplies and is sure to be a hit in the classroom! Check it out by clicking the picture.
The team has expanded upon their awesome project. This week they expanded on their crank. Here is what they had to say about it:
Building on our previous design, we machined an acrylic sheet into an acrylic disc to mount on the generator for easier use (video 1). We then kept building the power generation module so that we could test our other equipment better (photo 1). We disassembled part of the TV to try and test it with our generator, but weren’t generating enough power or had some other issue (photo 2). We managed to cut all of our acrylic for the hydro power module and we tested flame polishing on one of the pieces (photo 3, 4 and video 2). The video game has been further tested and we can successfully use other buttons to play the game! (Although Pac-Man is still really hard) (photo 5). Finally, we made some welding modifications to the base of the generator to make it simpler and more sturdy (video 3). Next, we’ll be building the structures of the modules and finally have something to really show off!
During the Saturday session of the Winter Teacher’s Workshop, teachers learned more about the Next Generations Science Standards (NGSS) with a specific focus on modeling. Matt Nyman, an instructor in the College of Education at Oregon State University, gave an overview presentation that addressed what modeling looked like in k12 education. Teachers then took part in two sessions that focused on mathematical and scientific modeling. Andy Olstad, a School of Business instructor, shared several online tools as part of his presentation to help students understand mathematical modeling. Randy Bell, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs in the College of Education, presented on scientific modeling. These links as well as all presentations at the workshop can be found below.
Mathematical Modeling
Online Simulations
Summer Reading List
Additional Links
Scientific Modeling
Presentations
We enjoyed your company at the Winter Teacher’s Workshop! We hope everyone had a blast. If you are a middle school or high school SMILE teacher you should have received the following materials (pictured below): cornstarch, agar agar, gelatin powder, a bottle of glycerin, Styrofoam, cornstarch, and green biodegradable Styrofoam packing peanuts. With these materials we showcased several lesson plans including Fork it Over and Packing for the Future along with the bonus activity: Composting- Out of Sight Not Out of Mind. All of the lesson plans and presentations for these activities can be seen here. We would love to see pictures of your SMILE students performing these activities. Always feel free to e-mail us at smile.program.osu@gmail.com.
Once again our IME team has created amazing activities for our SMILE Teacher’s Workshop. They have created a great example of what an Industrial Manufacturing Engineer does on their job including optimizing manufacturing processes. Check out their activity below:
This Friday, January 30th we will be presenting bioenergy activities at our annual teacher’s workshop. This year we focused on biodegradation and are excited to share with you three different activities. First, in the Packing for the Future activity students will get to compare cornstarch and Styrofoam packing peanuts and decide which is more suitable for their shipping company. Next, in the activity Fork it Over (along with this worksheet), students will get to make their own biodegradable forks while still trying to maintain utensil strength. Last, in our bonus activity Composting–Out of Sight Out of Mind students will get to bury their newly made utensils and other utensils to compare the degradability of each product. If you are able to make it to the workshop you will see this awesome presentation from our bioenergy expert, Brian Hartman. We hope to see you Friday!
This week the ME team was working on a power generator for their project which included a hand crank system. The team describes their process below:
We started by designing a simple hand-crank and trying to power a 25 watt light bulb with it [photo 1]. We were not generating enough power to light the bulb, so the light bulb just glowed (it didn’t light up fully). We determined that we need to spin the generator faster to get more power, so we went about modifying out crank to include a gear ratio. Adding a gear ratio means that spinning the crank handle one revolution will rotate the generator hub more than one revolution (2.4 revolutions, in this case). The next few photos show our group hard-at-work in the machine shop at OSU: Peter uses the band-saw to cut steel components [photo 2], Sam uses the sand-blaster to clean and texture parts [photo 3], and Ryan welds a shaft onto a sprocket [photo 4]. The new, modified hand crank is complete [photo 5], and our test with a voltmeter is successful [photo 6]! The new design generates about 21 volts, which is a significant improvement over the 12 volts we were able to achieve prior to the modifications. Next, we’ll be conducting more tests and modifications—after all, engineering is an iterative process!
