Discover Engineering in Central Texas

Many ZOOM into Engineering (elementary and middle school level) experiments are available in Spanish in addition to English. See http://pbskids.org/zoom/printables/activities/ and look for the ESP designation. This site provides handouts in PDF format that you can print out and take to the classroom. All of the instructions are included, just check and see what supplies you will need and your visit is practically planned! Some example are attached below.

Materials:

Per team: sturdy plastic garbage bag, four or five straws, tape, pencil

Procedure:

Divide students into teams of five or six and distribute materials. Instruct one team member to sit on a chair.

I developed a 3-part series of sessions relevant to grades 4-6. Each  session focused on problem solving and exploration a bit closer to home. Instead of  microprocessors, the kids uncovered the steps necessary, operated as teams and planned the  development of rollerblades. Being there 3 times in the classes allowed students to express pent-up ideas and  questions to me. I think they learned more than in a one-stop session. Kids from 2 years  ago are still asking me questions. Also, I saw  many of the students apply what they  learned in my sessions to their Cub Scout requirements.

Origami box business

Objective: To make the most profit & explore Reverse Engineering

Focus: Teamwork, creativity and problem solving

Costs

• Store - $1 – Scissors, ruler, paper

• Fines ($0.50 each) – Negativity, consulting, misconduct

Revenue (area of box top) 

• Small box - 0 to 3 sq.

Goal: Students will understand that the microprocessor  follows a precise set of instructions.

Activity: Students will participate in creating a  precise set  of instructions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Grade Level: Grades 4-8 For higher grade levels, use a  more complicated task such as putting on a coat, tying your shoe.

Movers

Materials:

Per team: marble or other small object; balloon, three straws, tape, 30 feet of string or thread, large rubber band, two paper clips, square of cardboard, scissors, piece of cloth

Procedure:

Use the first 7 minutes to lay out the task and plan strategies, 12 minutes to construct and test the marble movers, 7 minutes for teams to talk about strategies and problems.

Internet Security Lab

by Theodore Shrader and Dave Clark

Introduction

This lab provides a fun and unique way for middle and high school students to learn about the software engineering concepts and techniques behind providing security over the Internet. The Internet is an unsecured network. Anyone with a packet sniffer can intercept and read messages going across the Internet. To provide secure communication, software engineers had to construct algorithms and an architecture to allow messages that to be authenticated, verified for integrity, and remain confidential. Authentication involves verifying the sender of the message. Message integrity ensures that a message was not modified in transit, and confidentiality involves encrypting the message so that only the intended recipient can read the contents. This lab was battle tested with multiple classes of high school students. The lab uses hands on activities in three stages: