The electronics department at the Austin Community College Riverside campus has many surplus electronic instruments that they want to loan to area schools for use by teachers in their science and technology classes. The instruments are in excellent condition and great for demonstrating principles of electricity, electronics and physics. As of January 9, the instruments include 60 Tektronix oscilloscopes, 28 Tektronix function generators, 46 Tek power supplies, 2 frequency counters, and 13 Simson 260 multimeters.
Members
Professor Sparky
Professor Sparky explores electricity from the tiny impulses that power our heart to the massive jolts of lightning storms.
Demonstrations include:
Dr. Kold
Who can drive nails with a banana, magically shrink and reinflate balloons, cause iceberg lettuce to explode, and make delicious ice cream in less than a minute? It’s Dr. Kold, of course. If you are looking for a way to introduce your students to the world of ultra low temperatures and instant frostbite we can help. Our demonstrations can be scaled to fit your needs from a 30 minute class to an evening of science fun. This demonstration is free to public and private schools in the Austin area. Dr.
Discover Engineering!
The Central Texas Discover Engineering Committee's mission is to encourage school children in central Texas to pursue technology careers by providing role models from the local engineering community. Diverse groups of engineers provide hands on experiments that demonstrate teamwork and logical processes while discussing their jobs and the reasons they chose engineering.
facebook Group
We've started a Discover Engineering facebook group. On this we'll post photos, videos, and upcoming events. It will also be a place where you can start discussions with other volunteers about your experiences.
Volunteer Information
Register at Volunteer registration. You will be contacted either directly by a team lead or by broadcast emails that list available team opportunities.
- Generally the visit will be sometime from early February to the end of the school year.
- Commitment is usually 1-3 hours for the actual visit.
Experiment template
The following link leads to a survey of the fields required to submit an experiment. Fill out the survey to submit an experiment. www.engr.utexas.edu/sos/survey/29829942/index.cfm
Here’s the template for the experiments. I filled in some example text in italics to show what should go in each field.
Experiment name: Mouse trap vehicle
Cyberchase
This presentation showcases Cyberchase, an award-winning math mystery cartoon series on PBS KIDS GO! that delights 8-11 year olds with eye-popping action and humor. A team of curious kids and a wacky cyber bird use math and brainpower to outwit, outsmart and outlast the bad guys in theirquest to save Cyberspace. Check out this presentation if you are interested in using a Cyberchase video during a classroom visit.
Spanish language experiments
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.
The Top 10 List
10. Build a network that isn't all about bandwidth.
9. Show that Bill Nye, The Science Guy, and Harry Potter aren't the only ones to demonstrate wizardry and magic to school kids.
8. Have the UT School of Engineering named after you when the entire class of 2008 lists you as their inspiration on their applications.
7. Add "led a diverse team of entrepreneurial engineers" to your resume. Who cares if they were all younger than 15!Â
6. Wear an incredibly cool limited edition T-shirt.
