Blast Off: How Far Does It Go?

Amr SafwatSTEP Fellow 2009/2010

Aerospace Engineering Applications

Me….

Outline

• Hughes STEM High School and Team• STEM Foundations• Lesson• ACS• Reflections

Hughes STEM High School• First year only ninth grade

• 294 Students

• 12 teachers in two teams

• Interdisciplinary coursework

• Real world through business and community partners

• Workplace experiences

• Professional communication skills

• Knowledge & technology to real world situations

Hughes STEP Team• Sharon Bachman: STEM Foundation Teacher

(STEP Coordinator)

• Danielle Battle: STEM Foundation Teacher

• Ronnda Cargile: Physical Science Teacher

• Tiffany Stanton: Math Teacher

STEP Foundations Class

• Project-based

• Problem-related research

• Interactions with partner organizations

• Site visits

STEP Foundations Pathways

• Quarter 1- STEM Education• Quarter 2- Aerospace and Engineering• Quarter 3- Health and Biosciences• Quarter 4- Sustainable Urban Environments and Zoo Academy

Lesson Goal

• Experience the practical applications of aerodynamics through a design process.

Objectiveso Identify the four forces on airplanes.o Compare inputs to the flight behaviors.o Understand and apply Newton’s laws of motion and

discover their practical applications in aerospace engineering.

o Design wings while considering certain limits and requirements.

o Build according to defined designs.o Improve designs and test new designs.o Determine the center of gravity.o Balance the weight distribution while building the

airplane.

ActivityThis lesson took three to four days

Day 1 :•Pre-assessment •Styrofoam plat experience•Concepts and new Vocabulary

Concepts & New Terms•Forces: Thrust, Drag, Lift, Weight•Physical Laws: Law of Motion & Applications•Dihedral: Upward angle of the wing which

increases the flight stability

Boeing 737

Harrier GR7

Wing Project OverviewDay 2 to 4:•Project Discussion•Importance of Design with examples•Why we need to consider stuff…•Building and assembling•Testing and modifying

Design Improvements•Center of Gravity•Balancing the airplane•Weight amount and distribution•Flight behaviors•Fins vs. wings

Launching the Airplanes

Overall Improvement

1 2 3

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

21%

5%

20%18%

21%

23%

8%

27%

39%

18%

2A 1BQuestions

Impr

ovem

ent

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

21.2%

28.7%

2A 1B

Overall

Impr

ovem

ent

Block1A 2B

Mean: 4.23 5.74Std. Deviation: 2.761 3.454Min: 0 1Max: 9 11Count: 26 23

Applications Career Societal

A: Laws of Motion, Balancing Size/Shape/Weight, Wing and Airplane design process

C: Aerospace Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Marine Engineers and Material Engineers

S: Transportation of passengers and goods, Energy consumption, Environment Impact, Globalization, Safety

Reflections & ConclusionWent well Went not well

Improvements/ Recommendations

Activity

Very good helped the students understand dihedral and general

physical concepts NA

Let one student come to the front and explain it to the class

Project

Good needed some adjustments and modifications, Students learned about design inputs Material

Make sure to have enough material

Concepts Applications of Newton‘s laws

Students have problems with

directions, areas, scale and

measurements

Make sure that students have a

basic level of understanding

ReviewGood at the beginning and

summative at the endSometimes at the

end

Warm-ups and Formative

assessment

Time Activity was good

Need more time especially for IEP‘s,

explain concepts and Project

What’s next? •Wings and fins•Changing attributes•Obserevations•Engineering Applications•Three variables in one graph

QUESTIONS