I implemented the first 2 activities earlier this year in the other levels of Integrated Systems Technology so I could expose a younger group to the project. It worked! I am now teaching my 3’s or seniors and they are attacking the project. They brought items to reverse engineer from home and are in the beginning stages. In the pictures, they are beginning a new format for their engineering notebook. I “found it” at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa this summer. Thank you Frank! I will not be able to do one the traveling engineering project with my students this year so we will be designing and creating a mock assembly process with parts of our lab incorporated like pneumatic cylinders, Arduinos, electric components, and lights and photonics. I shared the vision with them (PowerPoint pictures and a cardboard model) and there was excitement in the room. There was even more when I told them we would be inviting engineers, parents and members of the administration to the presentation. I always tell them, ” Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, so get ready to work!” I guess our new mantra will be Keep Calm and Design.  We will be continuing Monday and I am so looking forward to the the morning classes!

The first activities in the lesson plan I have developed are based on the process of reverse engineering. The students select a familiar product or toy and take it apart step by step documenting the process all the way. I was amazed at the excitement this project generated in the classroom with just a few tools, a rule, and the engineering notebook. (We did determine Hot Wheels Cars are a bad choice.) I have this set as a team project for putting the product back together but decided to have each students take the items apart. We had a lot of toys and some items like a calculator, a mouse and the standard writing pen. As a student of mine said years ago when his team selected an engineering problem they thought was simple, “Nothing is ever easy!” I will be using this as a beginning project for my third level students so they can continue with the other activities for the capstone project.