Reading Hands-free Is the Way for Me!
Students work in teams to contribute to a design.Copyright 2022 Marlina Romano, University of Florida MRET
Reading is fundamental, but so is engineering design! In this activity, students plan, design and create a structure that holds a book and, therefore, allows a person to read hands-free. Students then test their design and try to improve upon it by making the composition more stable so that it can hold more weight. Eventually students discuss the needs for this product and explain how their structure opposes gravity to enhance day-to-day tasks.
Engineers design and construct items, devices, and tools to improve people’s everyday lives. The items they produce range from grand structures, such as bridges, to smaller instruments, such as pens. Civil engineers see the need for a solution to a problem or improvement on an existing product and take the steps to plan, design, and create something that makes daily situations more convenient.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Define force and motion.
- Explain how the amount of force effects an object.
- Define and describe gravity.
- Explain what kind of forces oppose gravity.
- Complete multiple trials using varying iterations to find optimal results.