Summer Workshop Experiences for Middle School Teachers and Students

For the past three summers we have presented two one-week workshops. One entitled Introduction to Fabrication has been offered to middle and high school students, while the other entitled Introduction to Energy Conversion and Distribution has been offered to middle school science teachers. This paper presents a summary of the experience and lessons learned. The goal of the fabrication workshop is for the students to develop an awareness of the processes involved with the creation of objects they encounter daily. There are mechanical and electrical segments of the workshop. During the mechanical segment the students are introduced to a small milling machine and lathe that are capable of machining a variety of materials ranging from plastics to mild steels. Emphasis is placed on safety and proper machining techniques. Through a variety of machining projects, the students also learn how to drill and tap a hole, how to make accurate measurements using calipers and a micrometer, and gain an appreciation for the costs associated with maintaining high tolerances on machined parts. Students also have the opportunity to spend time in a professional machine shop and observe numerically controlled machines in operation. During the electrical segment the students use a breadboard to build a small electronic circuit, and then transfer it to a printed circuit board of their own design. In the process the students learn about simple electronic circuits, proper soldering techniques, pc board layout and fabrication. On the last day of the workshop we take the group on a field trip to a local industry site at which a variety of fabrication and productions methods are observed. The goal of the energy conversions workshop is to provide science teachers an opportunity to develop an understanding of energy conversion and power distribution systems. During morning sessions, materials covering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and electro-mechanical machines are presented and discussed. Afternoon sessions in the laboratory are used to reinforce the morning topics and typically generate new questions for explorations. During the past two summers, a complete energy conversion system consisting of a water wheel and a small generator has been built and the performance characterized. A special emphasis is made on characterizing system losses.