Feature: Packaged for the Classroom
Posted on April 4th, 2010 by Jaimie Schock
Food processing requires a lot of engineering, from developing farm equipment to the automated baking and mixing machines used in prepared desserts. One of the most inventive stages comes toward the end, when the food is packaged. Johannah Frueh, a science teacher at Orange Charter School in Hillsborough, North Carolina, has incorporated the engineering behind designing and making food packaging into her seventh and eighth grade elective lab classes.
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Tags: Curriculum, Engineering Design Process, Food Industry, Grades 6-8, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Engineering
Japan is Cool Robot Central. There are ‘bots that play soccer, dance, climb trees, and swim – not to mention manning assembly lines. Now, the nation that has long dominated industrial robotics is grappling with ways robots can tackle society’s other challenges, like aiding firefighters and an aging population.
Many schools include project-based learning in their classes, but few have embraced the concept quite as completely as the Da Vinci Science and Design schools in Hawthorne, Calif. “Actually, PBL is not worked into the curriculum, it is our curriculum,” says Nicole Tempel, Da Vinci Principal. Nearly every aspect of learning is tied to a project.
“Space Science Mentor,” an article from the March 2009 issue of Prism magazine, profiles a Kentucky professor who involves his undergraduates in satellite launches. Hands-on research is often seen as a good way to engage undergraduates in science and engineering. But at Morehead State University’s ambitious space science center, it’s no mere exercise. As the center joins in preparing suborbital vehicles and a satellite for launch, sophomores and even second-semester freshmen help design and build payloads and operate ground-to-space communications.
When Katie Cutler let her middle school students pick what to learn, she was blown over by their choice. They voted for wind energy, something she knew little about. As they learned by helping install a turbine at their school, so did she. 
Nanotechnology is increasingly important, but it can be a challenge for students to grasp. Luckily, a growing number of science museums and websites offer guidance. Start with a simple concept, experts say. For instance, how fast does a fingernail grow? One nanometer per second. And, make it fun.
