INCREASING RIGOR THROUGH STEM
21st Century Opportunities for
21st Century Learners
COLLABORATING WITH COLLEAGUES
• Collaborated with FACS classes
• Collaborated with Athletic Director
• Collaborated with US History teachers
• Collaborated with Math Department
• Collaborated with PE Department
• Collaborated with AG Department
• Collaborated with Science Department
• Collaborated with Theater Department
TIMELINE
• November 2012: Intro to Engineering new course
proposal submitted to high school faculty for approval.
• December 2012: Approved proposal submitted to FPS
Board of Education for approval by Dr. Hull.
• April 2013: MOREnet announces a $400,000 grant
opportunity for public and private school MOREnet
member districts.
DESIGNING THE COURSE
Course Description:
• Introduction to Engineering Design focuses on how
ideas for solution to problems become implemented,
manufactured or produced in the real world. Students
will learn about different aspects of engineering and
engineering design. Students will learn how engineers
communicate through drawing with blueprints, work in
teams to solve problems and design new products.
Students will begin with basic background work to build
their skill-set and will eventually work in design teams
on semester projects. The first semester will focus on
civil engineering themes. The second semester will
focus on mechanical engineering themes.
1ST SEMESTER
The course covers the following:
•
Scientific concepts of Mechanical, Fluid and Electrical Engineering
•
Engineering Design Process
•
Background on Safety and Basic tool use for projects in course.
•
Project Management
•
Describe field of study within civil engineering.
•
Research projects and work of civil engineers.
•
Study of technical drawings ( Blueprints) Following simple blueprints.
•
Work cooperatively in teams to design, test, and report solutions to engineering
problems.
•
Introductory work using CAD Software and 3-D Printing
•
Projects: BLUEPRINTS, SURVEYING, INSULATION PROJECT, MANUFACTURED I
BEAM, BRIDGE, TREBUCHET, SMALL BUILDING FRAMING
2ND SEMESTER
•
Describe field of study within Mechanical Engineering.
• Electrical Engineering
• Study and Construct simple electrical circuits
• Study and Construct devices capable of generating electricity
• Thermal Engineering
• Study and Construct heat flow and transfer within closed and open sytems.
• Study and Construct experiment on the utilization of heat energy.
• Fluid Engineering
• Study the basic principles of fluid mechanics. Design a pneumatic device to
address a specific problem.
•
Work cooperatively in teams to design, test, and report solutions to engineering
problems.
YEAR 2: ENGINEERING RESEARCH & DESIGN
• Advanced CAD software use
• Advanced Modeling using Subtractive-Rapid
Prototyping (SRP) (new in 14-15)
• Introduction to CNC Plasma Software and Hardware
(CNC Plasma Cutter new in 14-15)
• Advanced Robotics and Programming Project
REPURPOSING CLASSROOM SPACE
•
An existing Industrial Arts classroom attached to a shop area had become a surplus
storage area.
VALUABLE REAL ESTATE
INITIAL STUDENT ENROLLMENT GOAL
15
So, we planned for one
Intro to Engineering
HOWEVER…
67students
immediately registered
for the class.
MORENET GRANT OPPORTUNITY
NO Restrictions =
Thinking Outside
the BOX
HOW DO WE TAKE THE NEW ENGINEERING COURSE
TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
• Discussed importance of STEM
• Discussed importance of equipment
• Discussed importance of student-led learning
• Discussed the importance of technical reading and
writing
• These discussions led to the focus of the grant, which
resulted in the first true FAB LAB in a K-12 public
school district in the state.
WHAT IS A FAB LAB?
• Fab Labs are commonly associated with
engineering, computer programming, design
thinking, and mathematics courses, but in truth
support all subject areas and are frequently a
catalyst for interdisciplinary instruction, enabling
teachers and students to create connections
between subjects that would traditionally remain
in isolated curriculum areas.
FAB LAB PROJECT GOALS
1. Develop a model for an affordable, replicable,
hands–on, and technology–rich 21st century
learning space for high school students that
supports STEMx learning and teaching in ways
a traditional classroom cannot; a space that
serves not just as a school resource but a
resource for the larger local community.
GOALS CONTINUED
2. Develop a sustainable professional development plan and
materials for teachers and technology coaches to support such
learning spaces.
3. Develop best practices for Fab Labs in high school education
and serve as a regional and national demonstration center.
4. Prepare the groundwork for this project to inform professional
practice and curriculum to enable the school to extend the Fab
Labs into the middle and elementary grade levels.
IMPACTING LEARNING
“Learning is often confused with education…. The best way to
understand circles is to reinvent the wheel.”
—Nicholas Negroponte
Through the use of Fab Lab, Fulton students will be “reinventing
the wheel.” Using a constructivist approach, the Fab Lab is not
designed to deliver knowledge but to create conditions where
students build their own knowledge through exploration and the
reconciling of new information with what the student already
knows.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In the case of the Fab Lab, our initial professional development
activities will focus on a cohort of “early adopters,” teachers who
have self–identified or been nominated by their school principal
for participation in the project. This approach will allow the
project to experience creative successes and failures, to
develop a distributed base of expertise that can evangelize on
behalf of the lab by sharing experiences with the larger faculty,
and recruiting teachers who are intrigued for years two and
three of the project.
DISTRICT SUMMER PD
OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEACHERS
• 3-D Printing Workshop
• Vinyl Cutting Workshop
• CNC Basics
SUPPORTING THE SHIFTS IN ELA
• Developing Student Literacy is a Shared
Responsibility
• Meet the need for CCR students to be proficient in
reading complex informational texts, independently, and
in a variety of content areas.
• Most of the required reading in college and workforce
training programs is informational in structure and
challenging in content.
READING: TEXT COMPLEXITY RATIONALE
• Elementary and secondary students are
not required to read enough
informational text independently even
though expository text makes up the vast
majority of the required reading in
college and the workplace.
(CCSS Appendix A, p.2)
SUPPORTING THE SHIFTS IN MATH
• Focus
• Coherence
• Rigor
CLEANING OUT
CLEANING CONTINUED…
PUTTING THE GRANT $$ TO WORK
• 4 Makerbot 3-D Printers
• Roland GX-24 Vinyl Cutter
• Heat Press
• Epilogue Laser Engraver Cutter
• Shopbot PRS Alpha 4896 CNC Machine
• 12 Desktop and 24 Chromebook Computers
• Traditional “Analog” Equipment
PUTTING THE $$ TO WORK IN 2014-15
• PlasmaCam 4x4 CNC Cutter
• Shopbot Desktop 1824 CNC Machine with Lathe
• Roland MDX-40A SRP with Rotary Axis
• Classroom Set of Boe-bots (24)
CNC MACHINE ARRIVES
CNC MACHINE AT WORK
VINYL CUTTER
LASER CUTTER
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
IN THE DESIGN PROCESS
DAILY PROBLEM SOLVING
CNC PLASMA CUTTER
ROLAND SRP MACHINE
LAB IN ACTION
•
http://watch.more.net/media/fab-lab-fulton-mo
RIBBON CUTTING
ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Field Trips
STEM Day at the Capitol
Competitions
Problem Solving
Learning new technology
Students taking PRIDE and OWNERSHIP in their work
STEM DAY AT THE CAPITOL
HELPING OUR COMMUNITY
• SERVE, Inc.
• Year 3: Open the lab once a week to the
community
• Offer training to community members for specific
equipment
STUDENTS
• Engagement at different levels
• Technical Reading
• Technical Writing (includes software design and
plans)
• Infusion of higher level mathematics
• Communication and Negotiation
IT IS ALL ABOUT ENGAGEMENT
CREATING ITEMS FOR PROM DECORATIONS
CORPORATE MENTORS
• Ameren UE
• Professional Contractors and Engineers
• MU School of Engineering
• Linn State Technical College
• Danuser
• Missouri Society for Professional Engineers
FHS FIRST ROBOTICS TEAM
FULTON’S FIRST ROBOT
CONTACT INFORMATION
• Mr. Jim Hall
jhall@fulton58.org
• Dr. Suzanne Hull
shull@fulton58.org