Development of K-12 Learning Modules

for Math & Science Education

Utah State University Society of Women Engineers

C/o Cynthia Furse

Faculty Advisor

4120 Old Main Hill

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 84322-4120

Phone: (435) 797-2870

Fax (435) 797-3054

Furse@ece.usu.edu

I. Executive Summary

The objective of this project was to expand the SWE collection of hands on science and math learning modules for Grades 1, 2, and 4, following the Utah Science Core Topics Modules to allow classroom teachers to effectively meet their teaching recommendations in addition to our visits to the classrooms. Through active participation with Junior Engineering (USU’s mobile science program), we have expanded our offerings as well as theirs. SWE volunteers visited seven K-12 schools in Cache Valley and one in Southern California with these modules and those developed in 1999-2000, providing over 1500 contact hours for nearly 700 children, about 2/3 of them girls and/or ethnic minorities. We expanded our teacher lending resource library of all equipment used in our outreach program and collaborated with Junior Engineering in the delivery of science projects to schools in need. Our final project for the school year, a Girl Scout Engineering Day, was a tremendous success, among our most fun projects so far and certain to be repeated in following years.

II Description

A. Benefits

1. Module Development

We developed the following specific modules for grades 1,2,4

Lighter-Up! (Real electric circuits, understanding voltage and current, resistance, and LEDs) (esp. for grades 1 and 5)

UP, UP, and Away! Paper rockets launched using a bike pump (developed by professor Gary Stewardson, USU ITE). (suitable for all grades)

Sweet and Sour: Ph testing of acids and bases in your fridge or under your feet. What happens when acids and bases mix and why? (esp. for grade 1)

London Bridges: All different kinds of bridges made from simple construction materials. (esp. for grade 2)

EE2B Slide Show

This slide show is “EE2B” (Electrical Engineers To Be) and describes the many fun things that electrical engineers do and how they are working to make life better for everyone. It also describes the importance of taking math and science and how much fun they can really be.

2. K-12 Outreach Programs

Programs include:

Environmental Engineering

Sept. 21, 2001 Fourth Grade Summit Elementary

Sept. 28, 2001 Fifth Grade Edith Bowen Elementary

Nov. 9, 2001 Fifth Grade Summit Elementary

Demonstration of the effect of pollutants on the water quality using the “Miniature Town” from Junior Engineering. The Town includes hills, farms, subdivisions, etc., with drainage towards a large lake in the center. The students sprinkle cocoa powder to represent dirt, baby powder to represent fertilizer, kool aid powder to represent factory waste, soy sauce to represent oil from leaky cars in the subdivision, and then spray the Town with squirt bottles to see the pollutants flow down to the lake. They then plant “berms” of clay with small trees on them, and plant felt “grass” to reduce the run off. When they repeat the experiment, their lake is much cleaner! We also demonstrated “Water Lock” (the stuff in diapers) and “Oil Lock” (for cleaning up oil spills) and asked for creative ideas for cleaning up their school yard environment. The students measured the amount of bare land near the playground and asked the principal to help them plant grass there, which was done.

Panama Canal

October 2, 2001 Mount Logan Middle School Science Club (Grades 6-7)

Dec. 16, 2001 Summit Elementary 4^th Grades

This demonstration borrowed from Junior Engineering is a hands-on (wet!) demonstration of how a boat is can float “uphill” and then be lowered safely down again using a finite amount of water.

EE2B Slide Show

October 2, 2001 Mount Logan Middle School Science Club (Grades 6-7)

Robotic Arms

January 17, 2001 Cub Scout Troop #

May 3, 2001 Girl Scout Engineering Day

Sept. 2001 Inglewood Elementary

These robotic arms, purchased from Junior Engineering, are run by hydraulic syringes and require careful cooperation between four kids to be able to run them properly to pick up pieces of taffy and put them in a paper cup (and then to eat them, of course).

Simple Machines

January 23, 2001 Pulleys

January 25, 2001 Levers/Inclined Planes

January 30, 2001 Hydraulic Arms

Feb. 1, 2001 Wheels/Friction

March Invention Conventions

We continued our very successful project in the third grade again this year. "Simple Machines" made a visit to six third grade classes plus two science fairs. In the classroom projects, we visit for approximately ¾ of an hour four different days, followed by a creative “Invention Convention” put on by the students for their peers and their parents. The modules were made available to other interested teachers, but in general they were still anxious for us to accompany the modules, which we were able to accommodate. We will continue to make these available to all interested teachers.

Jello

Feb 15, 2001 Five Classrooms from Lincoln Elementary

As part of Engineering Week, five classrooms from Lincoln Elementary in Hyrum visited USU. Several hands-on demonstrations were set up in addition to the traditional engineering week contests. Our group utilized the Jello Optics demo that was developed with SWE funding last year, where laser pointers and Knox clear gelatin are used to demonstrate diffraction and how lenses fix vision problems. This is especially effective, as the kids can see the “track” of the laser in the gelatin and see clearly how and where the light is bent.

Girl Scout Engineering Day

In addition, we hosted a Girl Scout Engineering Day May 3, 2001 for Junior scouts (grades 4-6). With the help of four on-site SWE student volunteers and four others who helped prepare the activities, four women and one male engineering faculty, the Center for Persons with Disabilities, Junior Engineering, seven Cache Valley Cadette Girl Scouts, and eight Girl Scout volunteer parents, we hosted a “Badge-in-a-Day” workshop where 35 girls earned the “Science in Action” badge. Activities developed by SWE members include:

Lighter-Up! (Real electric circuits, understanding voltage and current, resistance, and LEDs)

UP, UP, and Away! Paper rockets launched using a bike pump (developed by professor Gary Stewardson, USU ITE).

Sweet and Sour: Ph testing of acids and bases in your fridge or under your feet. What happens when acids and bases mix and why?

London Bridges: All different kinds of bridges made from simple construction materials.

B. Costs / Budget

2/25/00		SWE Grant	2700	2430

Previous Balance				800.2
Expenses
Date	check	whom paid	what for	amount
2/3/01	109	Lees Market	taffy for robot arms	6.76
2/3/01	110	Cindy Furse	replacement parts for pulleys and levers	12.41
5/3/01	111	Chet Lo	laser pointers (jello optics)	70
5/3/01	112	USU ECE store	electronic parts (girl scouts)	20.4
5/20/01	113	Harbor Freight	multitesters, tape measure	224.26
5/20/01	114	Edmunds Scientific		452.3
5/20/01	115	Pitsco		1900.45
5/20/01	116	Valiant		29.95


Total Expenses				2716.53

Amount left to spend on books and materials				513.67

Edmunds Scientific Order
	page	Description	ID#	Qty	cost each	total cost
	23	Static Electricity light bulb	T30814-46	30	3.95	118.5
	37	4-Speed Crank Axle Gearbox	T30813-43	15	10.95	164.25
	38	Dynamo Kinetic Flashlight	T30815-54	5	12.56	62.8
	42	magnets for small motors	T30535-79 (40/pack)	2	7.5	15
	54	EMF meter	T30816-04	1	39.95	39.95
	57	spring scale (5kg)	T30010-05	5	6.25	31.25
		shipping				20.55
		total				452.3

Pitsco Order
	page	Description	ID#	Qty	cost each	total cost
	224	Structure Tester (sand)	N54604	1	195	195
	225	Model Bridge Book	N57061	5	4.95	24.75
	227	Modern Marvels (bridge video)	N57472	1	22	22
	227	Paper Bridges (instructions)	N54924	1	14	14
	229	teaching model bridges	N57440	1	2.5	2.5
	220	Women in Engineering video	N52436	1	89	89
	227	Pitsco bridge building software	N57110 (Cdrom)	1	59	59
	242	earthquake simulator	N52743	1	695	695
	242	load plates	N52785 (10 packages of 4)	1	135	135
	243	earthquake engineering (book)	N52348	10	18	180
	243	epicenter video	N55134	1	29.95	29.95
	242	balsa pack	N52535 (30 students)	1	125	125
	243	epicenter software	N57114 (cdrom)	1	59	59
	248	timber cutter	N18818 (10)	1	179.5	179.5
	250	Tpins	N50332 (10 boxes)	1	15.8	15.8
	251	DrZoon Toothpick bridges	N57233	1	24.95	24.95
		shipping				50
		Total				1900.45

Valiant order
	page	description	ID#	Qty	cost each	cost
		Inventa class pack	1541-154	1	24.95	24.95
		shipping				5

		Total				29.95

III. Metrics

Numbers:

activity	girls	boys	SWE	other	F Eng.	M Eng.	teachers	other adults

Summit Elementary 4th Grade Environmental Engineering Project (1 hour)									Hours	SWE Vol	Other Vol
	33	37	4	1	2	1	3		81	6	2
Edith Bowen Elementary 5th Grade Environmental Engineering Project (1 hour)
	15	13	2		1		2		33	3	0
Summit Elementary 5th Grade Environmental Engineering Project (1 hour)
	38	36	2	3	2	1	3		85	4	4
MLMS Science Club / EE2B Slide Show ( 1 hour)
	22	18		1	1		1	1	44	1	1
Hydraulic Arms, Cub Scouts ( 1 hour)
		40			1	1			42	1	1
Summit Elementary 3rd Grade Simple Machines (4 hours+invention convention)
	72	72	3	1	2		9		795	25	5
Summit Elementary 4th Grade Panama Canal Project (1 hour)
	72	72	1	0	1	1	6		153	2	1
Inglewood Elementary
	45	45		1			3	2	96	0	1
Jello Optics at USU (1/2 hour)
	45	45	1	4	1		5	5	53	1	2
Girl Scout Badge in a Day (3 hours)
	35	(Juniors)	8		4	1		8	168	36	3
	8	(Cadettes)_
Total	385	378	21	11	15	5	32	16	1550	79	20

Selected Comments from Children’s Letters:

“ It was fun doing the science projects. My favorite project was were we made the boat go up through the boxes of water.” Xan, grade 4

“Dear Engineers, I loved what you taught us about the environment. I especially liked your presentation about the oil and water absorbers. I liked feeling them both.” Katy, grade 4

“Thank you for coming to Summit Elementary for the second time this year. I really enjoyed having you here. When I grow up I want to be an Engineer in making things that come out of my imagination. Maybe if I become an Engineer I will come to schools too. I really liked today’s experiment. P.S. I hope you can come again soon.” Elise, grade 4. (As an added note, young Elise came up to me later to ask a very private question. She was worried if women engineers can still have babies and was rather relieved when I pointed out my two kids, one in her class.)

“Thank you for teaching me about solutions and suspensions. I didn’t know about berms. I want to be an environmental engineer too. I liked the model of the land best. I hope you have fun as an engineer!” David, grade 4

“Today was realy fun but I also learned something. And I hope you can come back next year to teach us about something else. And to keep coming back for other kids to until you get to old.” Megan, grade 5

The most important Metric of all:

It is difficult to gauge the impact of a project like this, but a few personal experiences make it really clear that in a small but personal way, we are impacting the kids at these schools, schools where more than half of the kids qualify for free hot lunch, and many speak little English….

While sledding, three young boys recognized me and came shyly up, dragging their reluctant parents over for an introduction. “This is OUR Engineer. She comes to our school and teaches us how to invent things. Remember me? I invented the marshmellow thrower lever. And it really works, too!” and later… “Watch me go down on my sled. It doesn’t have any friction!”

Two years after learning about simple machines, hands fly up when I ask fifth graders the difference between hydraulics and pneumatics, AND how to spell them! And my traditional first question, “What did we do the last time I was here?” is always remembered, even a year later.

More than ¾ of the fifth grade class (after 2 years of engineering visits) raises their hands when asked if they want to be an engineer, and most can tell you “what kind of engineer they want to be”. (No, I really don’t have delusions that this many kids will actually become engineers, but it doesn’t hurt to start them out with a good impression.)

Hymie, who originally spoke little English and often cried with embarrassed frustration in class, VERY proudly knows nearly all of the “engineering words” we teach in both languages (thanks to a USU student who happened to also know Spanish.)

When we are seen in the halls, the lunch room, the playground, or even the grocery store, we are quickly mobbed by kids giving hugs, showing us their latest inventions, their skinned knees (identifying them as the effect of friction J ), or their strong muscles attached to the levers of their arms, and begging “Please come to our class today.” You have to smile when you hear all up and down the hall “The Engineers are Here!”. If nothing else, they know something about what an engineer is, and have some idea that it must be fun!

IV. Project Management

Cynthia Furse

Associate Professor / USU SWE Faculty Advisor

Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

4120 Old Main Hill

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 84322-4120

furse@ece.usu.edu (best way to reach me)

phone: (435) 797-2870 / evening (435) 563-1130

fax: (435) 797-3054

Sue Ellen Haupt (Girl Scout Activity)

Research Assistant Professor / USU SWE Faculty Counselor (new)

Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Utah State University

Logan, Utah 84322-4120

sue.haupt@ece.usu.edu

V. Project Life

A. Measurement of the ongoing health of the project

We will continue to visit K-12 schools as invited, and also pursue new school opportunities. The fact that we had nearly twice as many requests for school visits this year as last, most of which we were able to fulfill, indicates that the teachers liked what we did and are willing to continue to let us “invade” their classrooms with activities that are sometimes noisy, wet, busy, and active – different than their normal teaching routine.

B. How long will the project last?

We anticipate continuing our present efforts and expanding them as opportunity arises. At present we are limited only by the amount of time we have available. USU students and faculty continue to be generous with small amounts of time to contribute to classroom visits, which we try to use for best possible effect. Our SWE group is relatively small, about 20 active members, (because we have only a few women students), but we see a strong bond between the women who help on these projects, and a very positive experience with the school children that raises their spirits and reminds them that science is fun when times are tough (like midterms!).

C. What is required to maintain this project?

As a result of previous success, Junior Engineering mobile science program would like our assistance in the near future to develop middle school modules. We are planning a set of hands-on math modules that can be used to demonstrate the importance of math and how it is used in real design problems. Through Junior Engineering, the reach of this simple project is continually being expanded.

We are still seeking funds to expand this project. Our initial NSF grant was turned down, but we are in the process of upgrading it based on the comments received and will be submitting it again this September. We have requested over $1.3 million from the National Science Foundation to continue this work through the GK-12 Fellows Program, where USU student engineers would be funded to act as science teachers in local schools. USU SWE helped to organize five faculty members who will act as principal resources on this grant. In addition, these faculty members will be submitting an NSF grant application with the Center for Persons with Disabilities to seek methods of delivering good science projects to the handicapped children who are integrated in Utah's K-12 classrooms.

This SWE project is particularly important to our efforts to obtain further funding, as it has attracted the attention of the Utah State Science Specialists, who provides us with tremendous leverage within the state and the ability to reach all Utah teachers.

We now have a good collection of hands-on projects for the K-6 age levels. We will use additional funding to obtain additional equipment to make it easier for all students to reach the equipment when we visit classrooms. We will also be applying for additional funding in August to develop middle school applied math modules to give us something quality to take to these schools when we are asked to visit them.

Photos of some of the activities are attached.

Date: June 7,2001

Project Manager: Cynthia Furse Section: USU

Email: furse@ece.usu.edu Phone: (435) 797-2870

Deliverables: Indicate type (i.e. document, web page, brochure, etc.), title, and media (hard copy, email file, disk, etc.)

Web Page, curriculum materials, lending library of equipment, in-class activities, Girl Scout Engineering Day

Select[1] the one primary Strategic Priorty this project addressed:
X Education

SWE Committees to which this report and deliverables would be of interest:

[1] To enter an "X" in any of the boxes on this page, type a "6" in place of the box.