Hydraulic Arm Research

6th grade science students at the Beebe School can use the following links to research their robotic arm project:

• Engineering Design Process. Students must locate the steps of the Engineering Design Process and add them to their blue design journal.
• Constructing arm joint examples. Look carefully at the way these devices are constructed... we will be using similar materials.
• How Hydraulic Machines Work. Describes hydraulics and has some clickable images to aid understanding.
• Joints in the human skelton with cool pictures... it doesn't show the muscles, however. That's pretty important! How can they move?
• The Human Arm... the beginning is helpful but the end gets really complicated and technical.
• Medical info about human joints... along with names of some joints.

Students may also wish to peform web searches using Google.com or Wikipedia.org for keywords like:

• mechanical arm
• hydraulic arm
• robot arm OR manufacturing

Be sure to take notes about what you learn in your design journal. You can draw quick sketches to help you remember new and strange devices. UPDATE: The following MIT page, Designing Mechanisms, Might be useful for cherry-picking specific ideas for use in your project. If you use an idea from that book, be certain to note that in your design journal.

Hydraulic arm design and construction activity

Grade level: 6
Time required: 25-30 class meetings (a very time-intensive project)
Cost: $120 for syringes, $20 for tubing, $30 for nuts and bolts. $0 for scrap donated wood
MA frameworks: Technology/Engineering 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 2.1 - 2.5.

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This activity challenges the students to work in and between groups to develop a hydraulically-operated mechanical arm. The smaller groups develop the three components of the arm (hand, arm, shoulder) while the larger groups must design and build the connections between their components. Focus is on the design process, working with groups, communicating with sketches and verbal instructions, and some simple machines concepts.

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Link to the Hydraulic arm activity document.

Kidney Function Challenge

This skeleton of an activity challenges students to construct a system analogous to the human kidney, capable of filtering "blood" of "impurities". NOTE: This activity was never implemented.

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Link to Biomedical Engineering - Kidney Challenge Worksheet.

Human Body Systems Activity - Biomedical Engineering & Ethics

Grade level: 7
Time required: 2 class periods
Cost: $0
MA frameworks: Life science 6, Technology/Engineering 7.1, 7.2

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This activity provides an opportunity for students to learn about artificial hearts and to discuss the ethical issues surrounding experimental life-saving devices. Students view a NOVA program and read articles, answering querstions. Classroom discussion follows. An article regarding the role of engineers in society (focused mainly on dams) follows. The discussion of issues of engineering ethics may be deepened by inclusion and discussion of this article.

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Link to Artificial Heart Activity. NOVA artificial heart program information.

Robolab Photogate device and program

This is a plan and program for a Robolab controlled light-based photogate similar to those developed by Cambridge Physics Outlet (CPO). As an object of known size passes before the light sensor, the time of passage is recorded and can be used to calculate instantaneous velocity (v=d/t). Further modification may allow differential measurements between multiple lightgates and the calculation of average velocities to high precision. Ex. Time through light gate on port 1, time through light gate on port 2, time from leaving light gate on port 1 to time entering light gate on port 2, all yield valuable position, velocity, acceleration information.

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Robolab Investigator photogate file HERE.

Insulated Medicine Carrier Design Activity

Grade level: 7
Time required: 4 class periods
Cost: $25 for styrofoam cups. $0 if recycled materials are used.
MA frameworks: Physical science 14, 15, 16

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This is an extension of the Amazon Medicine Carrier activity developed at Tufts University. Students allow their insulated designs to be tested overnight, with the temperature of the interior of the device attenuating to the outside air. Data is logged using LEGO RoboLab devices. Students can interpret graphical representations of data and develop hypotheses concerning design modifications. The original Amazon Medicine Carrier activity was developed by the Building Math project.

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Link to the extension temperature logging activity.

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RoboLab information at Tufts University - CEEO.

Water Turbidity Meter device

This light-based tubidity sensor can be used in conjunction with a waterwater treatment design project. Students can use the device and program to assess changes in water quality, particularly suspended solids. This is a fast-acting surrogate test for some other chemical and physical tests of wastewater treatment facilities.

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This is based upon an activity originally developed at the CEEO.

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Robolab Investigator Turbidity tester file HERE.

Salinity tester device

This Robolab device and program can be used in many ways. Experience using it as a wastewater treatment tester and as a solar still efficiency tester are discussed. The measaurement of conductance in water is a surrogate for salinity measurement. Students must create a calibration curve and use that curve to determine the salinity of an unknown solution. Difficulties arise when electrolysis corrodes the terminals of the probe. NOTE: I have not been able to get this to work reliably yet. This is based upon an activity originally developed at the CEEO by Lisa Moretti.

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Robolab Investigator Conductivity Tester file HERE.

Mendelian Genetic Engineering Activity

Grade level: 7 Time required: 5 class meetings Cost: $200 for LEGO Mindstorms kit MA frameworks: Life science 7, 8

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This activity is an extension of the "Paper Pets" activity for learning Punnett Squares and basic inheritance information. Students encode the genotypes of their paper pets and use the computer to perform "genetic manipulations" and forensic tests of pets of unknown origin. Concepts of Mendelian genetics, Punnett Squares, inheritance, genotype, phenotype, and forensic science can be addressed. Further concepts of genetic engineering and the human genome project can be addressed.

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Link here for Genetic Engineering Worksheets

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Robolab Investigator "DNA Scanner" file HERE.

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Why would it be important to investigate the genetics of an animal, or even to alter or 're-design' them? Perhaps this article brings about a conversation concerning genetic engineering: Wolves' Genetic Diversity Distressingly Low.

Engineering Sketching / Observational Drawing Activity

Grade level: 5/6
Time required: 1 class period
Cost: <$10 for sample materials
MA frameworks: Technology/Engineering 2.2

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This activity presented students with a simple structure made of JENGA blocks, asked them to sketch it, debriefed looking especially for ideas of detail, perspective, notes, and then did the same with more complicated Lego blocks in the same configuration. Students were then asked to use their sketching skills to transmit a design idea and then to rate both the sketch and the builder. Debriefing hoped to bring up ideas of clarity, notes, details, etc.

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Link here for Engineering sketching activity.

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Link here for an excellent view of Leonardo DaVinci's notebook from the British Library. (Shockwave application).

Roller Coaster Design and Construction Project

Grade level: 8
Time required: 10 class meetings
Cost: $100 for used K'NEX toys and foam pipe insulation
MA frameworks: Physical science 11, 12, 13

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This project challenges students to design and construct a roller coaster. Concepts of force and motion, acceleration, velocity, sturdy construction, friction, and work group dynamics can be addressed.

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Link here for Roller Coaster Design template.

Solar Cooker Design Challenge

Grade level: 8
Time required: 5 class meetings
Cost: $0 if recycled/donated materials are used
MA frameworks: Physical science 14, 15, 16

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This activity challenged students to design and construct a solar cooker to heat water above the temperature of the surrounding air using only solar power. Concepts of heat transfer, radiation absorbtion/reflection, alternative energy, thermal mass can all be addressed. This project will be used as a jumping-off point for a solar still (solar water purification) design lesson. This project was tested in Massachusetts in January and was found to have mixed results. Some student groups heated water above it's initial temperature while surrounded by 4 degree Celcius air. Many did not. Redesign of this device is crucial, as well as the forthcoming extension that links solar stills to this activity.

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Link here for the Solar Cooker Activity template and activity sheets.

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Solar Cooking website.

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Maria Telkes - Solar Engineer website.

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Mother Earth News - How to Build and Use a Solar Still article - ca 1959.

Potato Chip Protector Structure Design

Grade level: 7 Time required: 1 class period Cost: <$10 for tape and paper, $0 if recycled materials are used. MA frameworks:Technology & Engineering 2.5

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This activity challenges students to design and construct a small structure to support the weight of several textbooks. Sturdy construction techniques, joinery and connections, materials strength, and sketching can all be addressed.

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Link here for the Pringles Protector Activity template.

Masking tape bridge engineering challenge

Grade level: 8
Time required: 1 class meeting
Cost: <$10 for masking tape
MA frameworks: Technology & Engineering 2.5

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Challenges students to construct and test a bridge between desktops. Concepts of friction, adhesion, surface area, failure modes can be addressed.

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Link here for Masking Tape Bridge worksheet.

Engineering materials collection & storage

Grade level: any Time required: 10 minutes or less Cost: $0 MA frameworks: NA

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This sheet presents the challenge to students to collect materials for use in building their engineering projects. The materials are low- or no-cost and would probably be thrown out in the trash. Many hands-on projects concerning scientific principles and engineering design require raw materials for prototyping, testing, and actual final design construction. This sheet lays the groundwork for a materials warehouse generated by students. If space permits, project bins can be assigned for storage and protection. Without proper storage, materials can be lost, stolen, or destroyed and partially completed projects can be damaged accidentally. One idea for storage is to invest in light-duty plastic totes of the type often sold in department stores or home centers. Determine the maximum number of student groups that would work on a project throughout the year and purchase as many totes as groups. Groups can then store raw materials, partially completed projects and finished creations ina secure location. Stack the totes in columns by class so groups do not need to pull a tote out from beneath 8 others. Remove them from the column from the top down.

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Link here to Engineering Materials Warehouse document.

How to post a lesson or activity description...

This website can be used to share lessons with the community of educators on the world-wide web, as well as with the professionals currently working in your school district or even your own team of teachers. As such, it is important that people be able to search for, and accurately locate these valuable lessons and activities. The blogger.com blogging website offers an advantage that other websites may not... Google.

Blogger.com is owned by Google and is therefore indexed frequently by Google's computers. To aid that indexing and for the assistance of other users, please post your work in the following format:

• Title of post: Descriptive title of project rather than a cute use of alliteration. If the handout was titled "Pringles protector" when you were supporting textbooks over a fragile potato chip, consider altering the title of the post to "Potato chip protector" or "Introductory Structures Challenge". A teacher searching for your lesson (including you) would have to search Google for "Pringles Protector" in order to get a positive search result.
• Post text: Try to include as many descriptive and helpful terms as possible. Materials required, approximate cost, length of the project, assessments, rubrics, teacher tips, etc. Wouldn't it be great if you searched for a lesson and found all these things? Put everything you generate up there and start a culture of sharing!
• Formatting: Try not to use too much fancy formatting. No matter how nice your handouts look to you, teachers that download them will probably not like it for their own use and will just strip out the text and the central ideas. Why not present these things in plain vanilla text rather than in Microsoft Wordart (notoriously hard to move around from document to document).

Enjoy the use of this repository and be certain to contact the administrator at if you would like to share your own work by adding posts to the blog.

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LINK HERE for step-by-step instructions...

Online write-up collaboration?

Writely.com can allow teachers and fellows to collaborate on activity write-ups and handouts from their web-connected home computer without worrying about file compatibility. Current projects under development:

• 6th grade - hydraulic arm design
• 8th grade - solar cookers / solar desalinators
  • Maria Telkes - Solar Engineer website
  • Mother Earth News - How to Build and Use a Solar Still article - ca 1959
• 7th grade - cells / "paper pets" / Mendelian genetics

Comments or questions?

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