vehicle. First, the students brainstormed ideas
and sketched out their designs. Then they
attached wheels, an electric motor and a solar
cell to an empty plastic bottle. The vehicles had
to be built on a budget and students also had to
consider economic efficiency. After about two
weeks, the students raced their creations against
each other. The vehicles only moved at about 3
miles per hour, but Plitcha says students were
very excited to see their creations on the move.
“No one wanted to lose,” he says. “They were
all fired up and very proud of their cars.”
After the race, students were also required
to think about ways they could improve their
designs. Ohnhaus says the project introduced
the students to a wide array of different topics
such as mechanics, abstract math and electrical
concepts, as well as environmental issues
such as alternative energy and greenhouse
gases. Plitcha says the solar vehicle project
also provided students with insight relevant to
contemporary debates about global warming.
“By experimenting, the students see current
events in action,” he says.
Jim Comunale, a technology education
instructor, helped students design and build a
simulated maglev vehicle. He started the project
by discussing the history of magnetic levitation
technology and explaining how it works. Next,
the students used a computer-aided design
program to sketch out their ideas. The students
created their vehicles out of Styrofoam and then
tested them in a time-trial event. The models
rolled down an inclined plane instead of using
an actual maglev system, but Comunale says the
students were excited about the time trials even
though the vehicles were not very fast.
“The students were really engaged and it
gave them more ownership of it,” he says. “It
gets them to start applying these ideas in a realworld situation.”
After the time-trial test, students had to go
back and brainstorm ways they could make
their designs more efficient. In the future,
Comunale would like to use a wind tunnel to
incorporate aerodynamics into the project.
“It would add another dimension and cover
more science standards,” he says.
The industrial arts class also includes other
assignments that challenge students to create
an object using a 3D printer or build a bridge
using a few pieces of balsa wood. These projects
also expose students to new ideas and might get
them interested in new careers, Plitcha says.
In addition to robots, maglev vehicles
and solar-powered technology, West Mifflin
Middle School students also won third place
in a contest to design and plan futuristic cities.
Eighth grade
science teacher
Christy Kozar
had the students
start their projects by playing the Sim City
computer game in order to learn about city
planning and design.
Environmentally friendly waste disposal
was the main theme for the competition last
year, and eighth grade students Jenna Beech,
Jacqueline Emery and Therressa Pryle won
third place in the contest. They named their
city “Coccum Terra,” which means Red Earth,
because it was supposed to be built on Mars.
The students designed a novel system that
used vacuum tubes to send waste from homes
and businesses to a processing center. There,
nanobots turned the waste into atomic particles
that were then used to create an atmosphere on
Mars that would allow crops to grow.
The team had to build a scale model of
Coccum Terra and used straws to represent the
vacuum tubes. The models had to be built for
less than $100 and employ 75 percent recycled
materials. The West Mifflin team collected
yogurt containers, petri dishes and marbles
that they used to build their city. The model
also had to include moving parts and the team
used a fan from a computer. They also had to
write an essay, give a presentation and answer
questions from the judges. The teams were
judged on the creativity and feasibility of their
ideas.
“The kids love it and they learn a lot,” Kozar
says. n
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