TeachEngineering activity contributed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s K-12 Outreach Office.
Summary
Students design and build wind chimes using their knowledge of physics and sound waves, and under such constraints as weight, cost, and number of musical notes their chimes must generate. They make mathematical computations to determine the pipe lengths.
Grade level: 9-12
Time: 150 minutes (three class periods)
Engineering Connection
Everyday, engineers design and create products, structures, and systems while working within given constraints. In this “open-ended design,” the potential exists for many creative solutions!
Prerequistie Knowledege
An understanding of waves and the corresponding equations for solving wave problems. A basic understanding of the steps of the engineering design process.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, students should be able to
Explain the relationships between wave velocity, wavelength, and frequency.
Calculate the length of a pipe needed to provide a certain musical note.
Learning Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
Design a solution to a complex real-world problem by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable problems that can be solved through engineering. (Grades 9 – 12)
International Technology and Engineering Educators Association
Develop and produce a product or system using a design process. (Grades 9 – 12)
Identify the criteria and constraints of a product or system and the determination of how they affect the final design and development.
Engineering design is influenced by personal characteristics, such as creativity, resourcefulness, and the ability to visualize and think abstractly.
A prototype is a working model used to test a design concept by making actual observations and necessary adjustments.
Identify criteria and constraints and determine how these will affect the design process.
Evaluate the design solution using conceptual, physical, and mathematical models at various intervals of the design process in order to check for proper design and to note areas where improvements are needed.
wave velocity: The time it takes for one point on a wave to travel a certain distance.
wavelength: The distance between two successive points on a wave (ex. crest to crest, trough to trough).
Materials List
fan
computers with Internet connectivity (for research)
drill press or drill and sturdy clamp to clamp pipes
drill bits for each type of material students bring in (such as metal, wood, plastic)
pipe cutter
utility knives
scissors
(optional) scales
tape
stapler and staples
After researching the parts of a wind chime, bring in all materials necessary to build it. Try to find scrap material before purchasing anything.
Introduction/Motivation
You are just beginning your first job as an entry-level engineer at Wind Chimes, Inc. Your first task is to design a new and creative wind chime that meets the following criteria:
It must be made using hollow piping.
It must play at least four different notes that sound pleasing together.
It must be aesthetically pleasing.
Material cost must be under $10.
It cannot weigh more than 1.5 kg.
It must make sound when suspended 1 meter away from a fan set at low.
All research, documentation, and mathematical calculations must be provided to your supervisor (teacher)
Procedure
Before the Activity
Gather all materials.Make copies of the Student Handout [PDF], which includes procedures.
Show students
the fan being used so they can feel the wind produced by it on low at a distance of 1 meter.
Bring in a wind chime if you have one to demonstrate.
Suggestion:Have students conduct most of the research as a homework / out-of-class assignment.
With the Students
Divide the class into teams of four students each.
As necessary, review the steps of the engineering design process, which students will be following for this activity.
Research the problem: a. What are the parts of a wind chime? b. How does the length and width of the pipe effect the sound? c. List at least 3 different sources and include website address or book title.
Develop possible solutions: a. List possible materials b. Method of suspending pipes? c. Location for drilling pipes d. Make all required calculations for designing an effective wind chime.
Test and evaluate: Does the wind chime operate continuously, giving out the expected notes under the test wind?
Select a solution: Explain why you chose this solution and address all criteria listed in the introduction.
Construct a prototype: Record all dimensions including pipe lengths and location of hole to suspend the pipes while constructing the prototype.
Test the prototype: a. What is the quality of the sound? b. Does the sound quality need to be modified?
Redesign to improve: List any changes you made to the prototype and note all changes in calculations for the new model
Supervise students when drilling and cutting to ensure they follow safety procedures.
Assessment
Use the Evaluation Rubric to grade student design projects on their functionality, aesthetic, calculations and drawings.
Activity Scaling
Wind Chimes. [1st grade] Next Generation Science Standards aligned activity by Regan Aymett, a teacher at Learning Way Elementary in Shelbyville, Tenn., in which students experiment, observe, and make conclusions about how sound travels by creating a plastic and a metal wind chime.
Ways of Wind – Wind Chimes. [Ages 7 and up; 45 minutes] Boston Children’s Museum activity uses paper cups, string, and such “found” objects as screws and paper clips to make wind chimes. In the process, students learn about the properties of different materials while exercising their creativity.
Extra reading & viewing
Designing a Wind Chime – Engineering Design in Five Weeks. American Society for Engineering Education 2005 paper by S. Scott Moor, an assistant professor of engineering and coordinator of first-year engineering, describing a first-year engineering design project offered at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Make Your Own Wind ChimesPopular Mechanics article lists 5 easy steps. Or watch engineering students make a musical bell in this Electronics Projects video. [YouTube 2:02]
2017 Siemens Possibility Grant winner Crystal Pirkle and her Sugar Hill (Georgia) Elementary School class. They planned to use the award to create a culinary room in their school.
The Siemens Possibility Grant Sweepstakes is open to teachers of all grade levels in nonprofit public, independent, and parochial schools. Home educators also are eligible to participate. To enter, simply fill out a form with your school’s name, address, and your name and grade(s) taught. The contest runs from December 14, 2017 to April 27, 2018.
Click HERE to download the rules [PDF]. Connect with Siemens on social media – #IDreamofSTEM – and say what would be on your wish list!
In addition to the sweepstakes, Siemens supports STEM educators with a library of downloadable STEM Day classroom activities on subjects from artificial intelligence to weather, and five-minute “refreshers” for teaching them.
Project: Research a current technology and what it might look like in 20 years, describing the development steps in 5 sample web pages.
Prizes: Up to $10,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Eastern, February 8, 2018
ExploraVision is a K-12 STEM competition that focuses on what it takes to bring ideas to reality. Working with a teacher, teams of up to 4 students pick a current technology, research it, envision what it might look like in 20 years, and describe the development steps, pros and cons, and obstacles. Here are some sample projects.
Sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association and Toshiba, this year’s contest is linked to the Next Generation Science Standards. More than 375,000 students in the United States and Canada have participated in ExploraVision since its 1992 debut.
Students can win up to $10,000 in U.S. savings bonds. Past winners have envisioned technologies ranging from a hand-held food allergen detector to a new device to help people who have lost limbs regain movement in real time and a retinal lens to counter the cloudy vision of people with macular degeneration. To celebrate the contest’s 25th year, the top 25 teachers who submit the most projects can win technology.
As acoustical engineers show in this video, aligning sound waves can silence even a large Burmese temple bell – at least in the space surrounding a sleeping infant.
The demonstration was mounted with the assistance of University of Wisconsin, Madison, biomedical engineering Chris Nguyen, who won the GE Unimpossible Innovation Challenge by using “destructive interference” to cancel out a ringing bell. The technique involves blasting one sound wave with its exact opposite, canceling out both, and it’s what lets noise-cancelling headphones muffle surrounding sounds.
As Business Insider reported. “Nguyen placed the bell one one side of an anechoic chamber — essentially a foam-padded room that traps any sound — and placed a microphone at the other end. In between them was a speaker, which Ngyuyen pointed at the bell. Whatever sound the bell produces, the speaker is programmed to emit the acoustic opposite.”
When the system works properly, the microphone picks up nothing. The bell gets unrung.
Nguyen, who had been researching what noise-cancelling headphones to buy, had prepared a list of 10 idioms before hitting on “Unring a Bell.” One of 575 contest entries, he and the debunkers of both runner-up idioms – “rain falls upward” and “hanging by a thread” – received a 10-week paid internship at GE’s Global Research Center in Niskayuna, N.Y. Nguyen also received up to $100,000 toward his education.
Destructive interference has broader uses beyond unringing a bell. As Nguyen explains, the technology can “reduce the noise coming from MRI machines or jet engines.”
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Like engineers in Santa’s workshop, Ohio State University students and faculty are adapting popular electronic toys so that children with special needs can enjoy them.
“Some kids cannot activate the toy the way it was designed,” explains Department of Engineering Education Assistant Professor Rachel Kajfez, the chief collaborator for Ohio State’s Toy Adaptation Program, in an Ohio State news story. “So we take these toys that are available on the market and we hack them.”
For example, adding an exterior button on a mechanical plush pony – as these Muskingun University engineering science students did this past summer – can make it easier for a child with cerebral palsy to press and activate.
Ohio State’s Toy Adaptation program manager Elizabeth Riter started the effort in OSU’s College of Engineering in 2015. The program develops workshops to teach engineering students and community members how to adapt toys for children with disabilities. The workshops are designed to provide hands-on educational opportunities for engineering students to learn problem-solving skills along with soldering while benefiting society. The toys are then donated to toy lending libraries or directly to families.
The workshop was a huge hit with families, students, and engineering educators when it was offered at the American Society for Engineering Education’s annual conference in Columbus, Ohio, in June.
(ASEE Annual Conference photos (above and right) by Michelle Bersabal and (left) Mary Lord. Copyright ASEE)
Ohio State’s Toy Adaptation program isn’t limited to on-campus learning. This December, a special toy workshop was held inside Nationwide Children’s Hospital to help children like two-year-old Noah from Ashland, Kentucky, who has a rare disorder that requires lots of medical treatment.
“I just love that it is using sort of our engineering powers for good,” Ohio State student Victoria Kinzel told ABC 6. By designing electronic switches just for them, she said, kids can “run the toy just as typical child would.”
Lesson from TeachEngineering contributed by Inquiry-Based Bioengineering Research and Design Experiences for Middle-School Teachers RET Program, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Grade Level: 6-9
Time: Ten 50-minute classes
Note: This activity uses fabrication materials and tools as well computers with Internet access; a prototyping shop or lab is ideal but not required.
Summary
Students design and create sensory-integration toys for young children with developmental disabilities—an engineering challenge that combines the topics of biomedical engineering, engineering design, and human senses. After learning about the human sensory system, teams apply the engineering design process to create prototypes within given project constraints, concluding with a class presentation in which they summarize their experiences.
Engineering ConnectionEngineers use their creativity to solve problems that make the world a better place for everyone. What sorts of problems do they solve? Engineers design new smartphones, large flat screen televisions and electric engines for automobiles as well as roller coasters, highway systems, artificial limbs and toy factories—and many more useful products, structures and systems! People are living longer, healthier lives today because of biomedical engineers who develop new technologies in the medical field, cures for illnesses, assistive technologies such as wheelchairs and contact lenses, new medicines and heart repairs. Like all engineers, biomedical engineers follow the steps of the EDP to find the best solutions to problems and needs that directly relate to the human body.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, students should be able to:
Solve an open-ended design problem.
Use the engineering design process to solve a problem.
Develop multiple solutions to a design problem.
Learning Standards
Next Generation Science Standards [Grades 6-8]
Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
International Technology and Engineering Educators Association [Grades 6 – 8]
Design is a creative planning process that leads to useful products and systems.
Requirements for design are made up of criteria and constraints.
Modeling, testing, evaluating, and modifying are used to transform ideas into practical solutions.
computers with Internet access, for conducting research (as needed) and preparing presentations
a wide range of materials and fasteners for fabricating the sensory toy devices, such as various woods, plastics, metals, cardboard, rope, fabric, glue, tape, etc.
hand and/or machine tools for cutting, shaping, forming, joining, assembling and finishing student designs, such as rulers or tape measures, hand or power saws and drills, scissors, hot glue, super glue, etc.
laptop with Internet access and projector, to show the class the Visual Aids (three slides) and a four-minute online video; alternatively use an overhead projector, print the slides as handouts, or write them on the classroom board
PowerPoint® or Prezi (free) software for preparing and making group presentations; alternatively, provide poster board and markers
Introduction/Motivation
Think about a typical day in your life. When we get up in the morning, we spend some time getting ready for the day, and right from the beginning we start taking in information from our environment.
Your senses are a vital part of your survival system. All animals, from insects to humans, have them. A combination of receptors, neural pathways, and brain parts make up the main components of the human sensory system. This system is part of the nervous system and helps us process information taken in from our surrounding environment. What are our senses? (Listen to student ideas.) That’s right. Hearing, taste, sense of smell, sense of touch and vision are the primary receptors that collect information and help us learn about and interact with our world.
Sometimes, however, peoples’ sensory systems do not function the way they should and the information they take in is not processed as intended. This can affect a person’s daily life and make his or her everyday experiences and learning quite different or even difficult at times. For example, some people have sensory processing disorder (SPD). Common daily tasks can be a challenge to perform for people with SPD because they have difficulty and/or problems processing sensory stimuli. Muscular coordination, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, and failure in school may be the result of sensory processing disorder. How can we help?
Procedure
Background and Overview:The focus of this design project is the application of the engineering design process (EDP) to develop a sensory toy. The objective of a sensory toy is to stimulate selected human senses; it need not have a recreational or educational purpose. For example, a child plays with a sensory toy such as a multi-colored foam cube because the colors stimulate vision and squeezing the foam provides a tactile sensation. (If you use some of this information to introduce the project, be mindful not to give project design ideas to students.)
EDP: To adequately guide and coach students, it is best if the instructor has a good working knowledge of the engineering design process. The EDP steps provided in slide 1 of the Visual Aids are from the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks, but other versions of the EDP can also be used. This project is intended to closely follow all the steps of the EDP.
Tools: The design project also makes use of a general shop (or a design/prototyping/fabrication/maker shop or lab) with a variety of hand and/or power tools. If one is not available, the activity can be conducted in a typical classroom, but may require some modifications. Lack of these resources may make this project challenging to complete.
Materials: No restrictions are provided on the kind or type of materials used for the design project and students choose their own materials. However, the selected materials must adhere to the project constraints for cost, weight and safety, etc. The teacher may want to alter the constraints and/or limit material choices based on the budget and/or availability of tools to necessary to work with certain materials. Having knowledge of material properties is helpful to guide students if questions or problems arise during the process of selecting project materials.
Before the Activity:
Gather any materials or fasteners that you think students may need during this project. Materials might include a wide assortment of fabric, plastics, wood, metal, cardboard and other materials. Students may also bring in their own supplies and materials. On Day 3, students generate a detailed list of supplies, materials and tools needed to fabricate their designs starting on Day 4; the items can be obtained by a combination of already available items, items from home, materials found in recycling/scrap bins and specific teacher purchases. Alternatively, if you do not have access to a wide variety of fasteners and materials, consider giving students a short list from which they choose, which becomes the teacher’s shopping list. It is up to the teacher’s discretion how to source and limit the supplies, materials and tools.
If desired, establish work groups. Student pairs may either work together from the start or beginning with the research component on Day 2.
Prepare a laptop and projector to show the class the Visual Aids, three slides in a PowerPoint® file, as well as a four-minute online video. Alternatively, use an overhead projector, slides printed out as handouts or written on the classroom board. Show slides 1 and 2 on Day 1, and slide 3 and the video on Day 2.
With the Students—Day 1: Identify the Problem
Administer and collect the pre-test, as described in the Assessment section.
Present to the class the Introduction/Motivation content.
With students ready with pencils and paper (or notebooks), show the class the engineering design process graphic (slide 1 of the Visual Aids) to introduce (or review) the steps of the engineering design process (EDP). Have students copy down the following in their notebooks:
EDP steps: Identify the problem or need, research the problem, develop possible solutions, select the best solution, create a prototype, test the prototype, communicate the results, redesign.
Present the engineering design challenge by showing the class the sensory toy project design criteria (slide 2 of the Visual Aids). Introduce the problem statement and its constraints. For engineers, constraints are the limitations and requirements that must be considered when designing a workable solution to a problem. Have students write the constraints in their notebooks.
Problem statement: Design a sensory integration toy for a child with developmental disabilities. The device must:
be safe
be durable
cost less than $10
weigh less than 2 pounds
be completed in 2 weeks (flexible based on available time)
not be messy or make a mess
target two of the following senses: visual, auditory, or tactile
Connect the problem statement to step 1 of the engineering design process: identify the problem or need. Explain that it is important to clarify the statement of need before beginning to design.
Provide some time for any questions and discussion about the EDP and project criteria.
With the Students—Day 2: Research the Problem
Divide the class into groups of two students each.
Have student pairs conduct online research (as necessary) to answer the 11 project-specific research questions about the human sensory system provided on the Sensory Toy Research Sheet.
Have students individually complete the Me and My Senses Activity Sheet. Students are asked to think of examples of sensory stimulus that they commonly encounter (what they hear, see, smell, taste, touch) to heighten their awareness of the importance of sensory integration.
Have the class read the Sensory Integration Reading (which doubles as a literacy activity). Lead a class discussion about the information in the reading. Show students the three discussion questions provided on slide 3 of the Visual Aids:
What is the most important sentence in the first paragraph?
Does sensory integration remain the same throughout your life?
What is one disadvantage that may occur for people who have a problem with sensory integration?
After this, if needed, give students additional research time on the computers.
With the Students—Day 3: Develop Possible Solutions and Select the Best Solution
Direct the groups to begin brainstorming ideas for sensory toys. To spark ideas, have them reflect on and refer to their research from Day 2. Require teams to identify TWO specific functions that their toys will accomplish; each device must stimulate at least two of the following three senses: visual, auditory and tactile. If students are stuck, ask the Investigating Questions to help them brainstorm ideas. Encourage students to take lots of notes about their ideas, make many sketches and consider potential materials. Require them to develop at least two different plans for possible toy designs.
Have teams compare their best design solutions, critically evaluating them to determine which best meets the criteria and constraints of the design challenge. Then have each group make a final sketch and plan of its best solution to show the teacher for approval.
Review groups’ selected best designs and give approval after affirming that the design meets all criteria. Explain any unmet criteria and direct students to redesign as necessary. Continue to work with student groups to review/approve designs as they evolve.
As students begin to identify materials, working off a final multi-view sketch labeled with material details and dimensions, have them prepare a detailed list of what materials and how much of each are required by the design. Working with the groups, make a plan to obtain the necessary materials and tools before the next day of the project.
With the Students—Days 4-8: Build a Prototype
Provide groups with the necessary materials, tools and guidance to build and then evaluate their prototypes. The fabrication of the prototypes is exclusively the responsibility of students working on this step of the design process; give students the freedom to self-direct the process. Expect that all students will not finish at the same time due to the variability in design complexity and degree of focus on task. Flexibility with time may be necessary.
During this phase, the instructor (and any other adult assistants) serves as a lab monitor to help with supplies and materials, assists with any problems that arise, and oversees student use of tools and machines. As needed, provide specific instruction, training and safety guidelines for the tools and equipment students will use.
With the Students—Days 9-10: Test the Prototype, Communicate Results and Redesign
At this stage, students play with their prototypes to attain and confirm functionality (safe, durable, appealing, engaging, stimulating) and submit their prototypes to peer review for evaluation against the original constraints (device cost, safety, weight, etc.) and specific functions identified by the designing team.
Have each toy be evaluated by five students using the Sensory Toy Evaluation Sheet to keep track of the feedback. Instructions are on the sheet. Any redesign modifications made from testing results and peer feedback are part of the continuing cyclical EDP to create the best solution possible.
Direct the teams to prepare and make presentations to the entire class that document their team progress through the steps of the EDP and fully explain the resulting sensory toy device. Hand out the Sensory Toy Presentation Scoring Rubric so students understand the expectations. Inform students of the presentation requirements, as described in the Assessment section.
Administer and collect the post-test, as described in the Assessment section.
Safety Issues
Use the following guidelines to ensure student safety in a fabrication environment:
Train students on the correct and safe use of hand and power tools.
Wear safety glasses when using hand and power tools.
Expect correct and safe behavior at all times in the shop area.
Investigating Questions
What types of things stimulate or integrate human vision? (Answer: Bright colors, contrasting colors and movement can stimulate vision.)
What types of things stimulate or integrate human hearing? (Answer: Loud noises, ringing and music can stimulate hearing.)
What types of things stimulate or integrate human touch? (Answer: Varying textures such as a rough surface like sandpaper.)
Assessment
Pre-Activity Assessment
Engineering Design Process Test: Before starting the activity, administer the seven-question EDP Pre/Post-Test to gauge students’ base knowledge. This could be done a day or two before starting the activity.
Activity Embedded Assessment
Reflection Questions: During design and development, have students spend time reflecting on and answering the items listed below; these questions are intended to be formative. Either ask students to write down their answers for teacher review, or check their understanding through student/teacher discussion. Either way, the answers are designed to help students keep continual focus on the design process. Student answers also indicate whether they understand how the design process works. End each class period by having students do an exit activity or self-evaluation to monitor daily understanding and project progress. Expect teams to progress at different rates, with every group eventually addressing and achieving all the items below.
State how your design addresses the project criteria: The toy must:
be safe
be durable
cost less than $10
weigh less than 2 pounds
be completed in 2 weeks (flexible based on available time)
not be messy or make a mess
target 2 of the following senses: visual, auditory or tactile
Which of your two proposed designs did you choose? Why?
Explain how or why your design addresses the two senses you selected.
How do you determine whether something works or does not work?
Does the toy design achieve the intended objective?
Design Approval: Review teams’ chosen designs to confirm that the project criteria have been met. This can be done with a simple checklist. Explain any unmet criteria so students can adjust (redesign) before submitting for teacher review again. Once approved, groups can move on to the next step.
Post-Activity Assessment
Group Project Presentations: After testing and peer evaluation are completed, direct the groups to prepare and make presentations to the entire class that document their team progress through the steps of the EDP and fully explain the resulting sensory toy device.
Require the presentation to include a title slide and one slide for each of the eight steps of the EDP so students can explain how they went from a problem to ideas to a useful solution. The slide for EDP step 8: redesign, can include ideas for possible future improvements to the design.
Require teams to demonstrate their final sensory toy prototypes.
Encourage the use of images (sketches, photographs) to document progress throughout the design process, as well as detailed design information in the form of descriptions, labeled drawings, dimensions, material identification, constraints and target functions.
Grade each team presentation and project using the scoring rubric.
Engineering Design Process Test: At activity end, administer the seven-question EDP Pre/Post-Test again, comparing pre/post scores to gauge changes in student comprehension.
Activity Extensions
Challenge students to develop marketing plans for their sensory toys. This could involve developing an accurate cost (for example, within 2 percent), identifying a target client group and creating an advertisement or brochure for the toy.
Assign students to research specific developmental or other disabilities that have a connection to sensory integration. Examples include autism, sensory integration disorder, attention deficit disorder, etc.
Activity Scaling
For upper grades:
In addition to developing marketing plans for the toys (see the Activity Extensions section), have students map out plans to mass produce their toys, detailing each process involved and all associated material and labor costs. Also require them to develop packaging and shipping plans.
Have students make video clips that teach younger students about the five human senses and how important each one is in daily life.
Have students interview an occupational therapist to see how s/he helps students with sensory integration problems.
Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework. Last updated May 1, 2001. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (archived information). (Great background information about the relationship between science, engineering and technology, as well as the steps of the engineering design process)
Sensory Development – Touch, Taste and Smell, Movement Sensations, Auditory System, Visual System, Sensory Systems in Concert – Body Position Sense. Net Industries.
Inquiry-Based Bioengineering Research and Design Experiences for Middle-School Teachers RET Program, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Acknowledgements
This digital library content was developed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute under National Science Foundation RET grant number EEC 1132628 in collaboration with the Worcester Public Schools. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the NSF and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
They grasp fingers, fall sleep in your palm, chatter, and fart when their heads are squeezed. No wonder Fingerlings robots rocked to the top of the toy charts this holiday season!
But there’s more to the story than just savvy marketing. Without engineers, there would be no must-have monkey or its equally cute unicorn and sloth brethren.
The tale begins back in 2015, when Sydney Wiseman approached the creative director at the high-tech toy company her family runs in Montreal, Canada, about designing a robotic monkey – specifically, the pygmy marmoset. She been watching videos about the tiny Amazonian creatures, an obsession of hers since childhood, and thought it would make an adorable addition to the WowWee animated product line.
“Can we make this into a toy?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think we can do that,” replied Benny Dongarra, who took the challenge to his design team. As the Financial Post described the effort, they wanted the toy to be marmoset-size, cling to a finger like the little monkey, and respond to the human holding it through emotion, sound, and touch. Thus began a round of concept sketching, 3-D modeling, and building prototypes. (See WowWee’s sketch-to-manufacturing design process for its robo-cars.)
Gradually, the monkey’s face grew cuter, it’s body more cuddly. “We were sure pretty early on that we had a winner on our hands — well, on our fingers,” Dongarra recalled.
It fell to Anthony Lemire, a mechanical engineer, and other engineers to design the sensor-studded toy’s 40 or so sounds and movements, such as singing when another Fingerling or eye blinks.
Price was a major design constraint: Fingerlings had to cost $15 for Walmart to stock them, reports the New York Times in a video-filled December 10, 2017 Sunday business section feature about how the engineering and marketing came together to produce a holiday blockbuster… and finalist for 2018 Toy of the Year.
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“It started out as a beautiful day, but in a disaster, anything can happen at any time…”
So begins Extreme Event, a free, hour-long role-playing game from the National Academy of Sciences’ Marian Koshland Science Museum that teaches students and community groups the importance of building coalitions and investing in resources to make their city more resilient.
Dedicated to helping people use of science to solve problems in their communities, the museum’s exhibits and educational programs focus on how science supports decision making in fields from climate to health. Can’t make it to Washington, D.C., to see the exhibits? No problem – take your class on a virtual field trip to learn about infectious diseases and putting DNA to work.
Can you muffle the sound of a jingle bell using a variety of Christmas-themed items? Explore your sense of hearing in this simple activity.
Grade level: PreK-5
Time: 45 minutes
Materials
For each student or team:
Reusable/Fillable Plastic Christmas Ornament (small plastic container will work too)
Jingle Bells
For the group:
Tissue Paper
Pom Poms (can substitute cotton balls)
Tinsel
Bows
Gemini astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford became the first musicians in space when they played “Jingle Bells” in December 1965, causing NASA’s mission control to nearly lose control. Bells and harmonica now reside in the Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum collection. Read the Smithsonian magazine account. Listen to the soundtrack HERE.
Procedure
Before the activity, have students explore the materials. Place a single bell inside the ornament without any of the materials to check out the sound. Experiment with different amounts of jingle bells.
Pack in the pom poms, close it up and give it a shake! Can you hear the jingle bell?
Do you need to add more pom poms to the ornament? If you still hear the jingle bell, why do you think you still hear it?
The workshop was a huge hit with families, students, and engineering educators when it was 
Sometimes, however, peoples’ sensory systems do not function the way they should and the information they take in is not processed as intended. This can affect a person’s daily life and make his or her everyday experiences and learning quite different or even difficult at times. For example, some people have sensory processing disorder (SPD). Common daily tasks can be a challenge to perform for people with SPD because they have difficulty and/or problems processing sensory stimuli. Muscular coordination, behavioral problems, anxiety, depression, and failure in school may be the result of sensory processing disorder. How can we help?
duce the project, be mindful not to give project design ideas to students.)
