Design a Theme Park Ride
In groups, using various given materials, students will design a theme park ride that will drop as fast as possible while keeping riders safely inside the ride. There will be other constraints to make the design activity challenging. With the help of UNH engineers, students will learn the various steps required for good engineering - ask, imagine, build, test, and improve. This activity will address mechanical engineering, designing, teamwork, and time management.
Wind Turbine Design
In this activity students will learn about how wind is harnessed to produce electrical power through wind turbines. Participants will design and build their own model wind turbine with a goal to produce cost effective electrical energy utilizing a small direct current motor. Groups will have the opportunity to explore multiple variables that impact performance and measure their output using a volt meter.
Shopping with Sparki
Say hello to Sparki, your own personal robot. Imagine a future when everyone has their own robots capable of doing basic tasks for them. Say you want to go to the store to pick up your iPhone 37, but your hover board is broken. No worries! You can send Sparki to get your package! Students will learn how to program Sparki to perform basic tasks using MiniBloq and SparkiDuino. The goal is to have Sparki follow a path, pick up an object, and return it to you. This activity will test the students' programming skills, problem solving skills, communication skills, and spatial awareness.
The World of Robotics
In the hands-on activity, groups of students will visit different robot stations and take control of the unique robotic systems. Principles of design, control, and application will be stressed throughout the session. The activity will end with a reflection period during which students will collectively discuss the countless ways to solve any problem using what they learned via all the robot systems with which they interacted.
Drone Drop Challenge
Students are engineers working to design a new protective package for the iPhone that will be delivered by a new drone delivery system. The drone will drop packages from the sky to people’s homes. The package must keep the phone undamaged during shipment, sustain multiple drops and be made at the lowest cost. The task is to create a protective package, using an egg in place of an iPhone. The package should prevent the egg from breaking when dropped. The team with lowest cost that keeps the egg from breaking wins the challenge. The activity encourages students to think critically about material choices, designs and improvements throughout the process of building and testing their packages. Teams also have the ability to recycle materials in order to lower the cost of the design.
Using K’NEX, students will design and build their own race car before taking it to the track to determine which design performs the best against physics in a downhill derby. Students will design the car with different variables such as shape, size, weight, and multiple wheel options, and then analyze which of those variables impact performance most.
Oil Spill & Response Cleanup
Students will have the opportunity to work in groups and investigate the effects of an “oil spill” in a water body. In a simulated “ocean”, students will drop a small amount of oil into the water and see the effects and interaction. Students simulate an oil spill and cleanup both before and after the use of dispersants using materials that act similarly to oil spill response technologies. They discuss the effectiveness and flaws of oil cleanup strategies based on the results. Students will simulate an environmental disaster in a classroom environment, analyze the effectiveness of oil cleanup efforts, and discuss cleanup tactics and the environmental impacts of using dispersants.
Jenga Khalifa
The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world and, amazingly, it sits on sand. Not only is it an amazing structure, it represents a pinnacle in geotechnical engineering. For this exercise, students will use a standard set of Jenga blocks to try to create a block skyscraper. But the challenge here is to do so while supporting the block tower on a spongy “soil profile” and, to model weight properly, the towers must support a weight at the very top (a hockey puck). Students will be challenged to determine how to arrange their blocks and create a structural foundation to overcome these limitations. The exercise teaches students about geotechnical and structural engineering, engineering design, and collaboration while engaged in a fun competition.