| THE PROGRAM: Ted and Latoya's
Eggsellent Adventure AKA "What's an
Eggmobile?" is a problem solving CAD Design activity
where students use elements of Physics, Mathematics and
Technology to design and test safety systems that will
protect the lives of occupants in a vehicle and help
prevent serious injury. Teachers can begin the activity by viewing with the children a video entitled, "The Face of A Crash", which is an upclose and personal insight with law enforcement officers showing the dangerous driving conditions that can lead to an accident and what happens to the occupants. DWI is an issue which is shown to be one of the leading reasons for young people's deaths. A class discussion then follows. The class watches a video entitled, "And They Walked Away", which is a dramatic account of the accidents which occur during high speed vehicle competition. The video depicts the safety engineering that was designed to save the driver's life in case of fire and sudden impact. Each Design/Build Team of 3 students will design a restraint system, a crumple zone system, an ergonomics system and a car body system. The activity will utilize the CAD modeled design solutions in order to test whether or not the safety systems will allow the occupants, in this case two raw eggs, to survive a crash. The children test their vehicles on 5' long tracks especially designed for this activity and send them racing down the track into a concrete crash barrier. A video entitled, "What's An Eggmobile?" produced by Brookhaven National Labs Educational Department shows the students how to build their crash vehicles and test track out of wood, styrofoam and other materials. THE STUDENTS: This project was done with two Technology Principles of Engineering Computer Aided and Design Classes consisting of 22 high school children with mixed abilities grades 11-12. THE STAFF: The program was developed by Gerry Barks, a Technology teacher at Spring Valley Senior High School for his Principles of Engineering CAD classes. Gerry is a member of the New York State Technology Education Mentoring/Assessment Network (NYSTEN), and conducts staff development workshops integrating Math, Science and Technology. |
MATERIALS AND FACILITIES: The
project is most realistically suited for a Computer
Graphics and Production Classroom with any computer and
art or CAD software program that will allow children to
create 2D and 3D shapes, text, patterns and colors. A
printer or plotter is needed to generate hard copies.
Colored magic markers, graph paper, foam board, wood
sticks, hot glue guns, box cutters, files and shaping
tools are needed to cut, form, assemble and decorate the
vehicles. Access to a library, Xerox machine, VCR with TV
monitor is required. The 5' crash and optional electrical
components can be purchased from Kelvin or the crash
track can be built in class. OUTSIDE RESOURCES:
To initiate the program a video, "The Face of a
Crash" and "And They Walked Away", can be
ordered from the Discovery Channel. A free video,
"What's An Eggmobile?" can be ordered from the
Education Department at Brookhaven National Labs. A
detailed article entitled, "Bill and Ted's
Eggsellent Adventure" by Barry E. Borakove, can be
ordered from the New York State Technology Education,
Spring 1996, OVERALL VALUE: The project is a way to create an exciting, hands-on problem solving activity designed to attract girls and minorities into non -traditional careers in engineering and shows the importance for learning Math, Science and Technology. RECOMMENDED FUNDING: $200.00 FOR MORE INFORMATION: DEVELOPER: Gerard J. Barks SCHOOL:
PRINCIPAL: Sydney Farber DISTRICT: East Ramapo Central School District |