Authentic Engineering Drawings | John Heffernan

Authentic Engineering Drawings

Posted on May 25, 2011 by John Heffernan

At the Tufts Lego Engineering Symposium, we were assigned the task of making a drawing of a device that could hover in a vertical wind tunnel powered by a fan.  After time ran out, we were told that the we should pass the drawing and our device to another team to implement the modifications.  While drawing, there was not a strong motivation to make a good drawing.  Of course, if we knew that it would be used, there would have been a strong motivation.

via jheffernan.com

Why do we have students do activities? Are we always clear in our expectations?

Jeff Heffernan discusses an activity he experienced at Tufts LEGO Engineering Symposium.

He has proposed an authentic drawing diagram to create authentic drawings. Drawings should be for external audiences and express high complexity.

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Boy Delivers Motivational Speech After Learning to Ride His Bike

by Jessica Samakow

Filed under: Amazing Kids, Funny Stuff

Text Size:   

We adore this little boy, who gives hope to any kid who has ever failed at riding a bike with an inspirational speech to rival the best rhetoric out there. A recently accomplished rider himself, he reminds his peers with training wheels to believe in themselves and to keep practicing.

We can't wait to buy a T-shirt that reads, "Thumbs up to rock and roll!"

via parentdish.com

Very simple message - Everybody can do it.

Great video and such extreme and genuine excitement.

Thumbs up for sure!!!!

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Failure is not optional « Physics! Blog!

Physics! Blog!

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. – Samuel Beckett

Failure is not optional

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Kelly O'Shea

20

It’s time for the mindset talk in my physics classes. I’ve been trying to prime them for a while now. Honors Physics read part of Carol Dweck’s book as part of their summer homework and two chapters of The Talent Code during the year. The “regular” physics class has been talking about myelin and how feeling confused means you’re about to learn something. On the course evaluation in January, 36% of them agreed with “You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.” while 38% agreed with “You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.” (it wasn’t either/or).

I’ve decided that the regular class is going to read a short part of Bounce aloud and discuss it on Monday. Honors Physics is going to read an abridged version of How Not to Talk to Your Kids (the parts about very young children are cut out) for homework and talk about it in class. We read it in Honors last year at this time, and it had a profound effect on many of my students. They start to recognize themselves as they read the article, and some start to recognize what has happened to them this year in physics. At this point in the year, almost all of them will have “hit the wall” in this class. They will have encountered something difficult enough that they couldn’t immediately understand how to do it. For the students who have always found easy success in math and science, they initially believe this means they’ve reached the end of their “potential” and are no longer as smart as they’d always known they were. Sure, they’ve earned A’s on every math test they’ve ever taken, even as they’ve watched their friends struggle, but 10th grade science is as far as they are going to get on their academic journey. This is the end of the road.

via kellyoshea.wordpress.com

Very interesting post by a Physics teacher Kelly Oshea. Students are required to do reading during the summer prior to the school year. He discusses students approach to the year and Project Based Grading.

He emphasizes the Failure is not an option if you want to be successful. It we want to get better at something, we must practice which involves practice.

I received a painting from my Aunt Kaki when I was young. It read " I am not judged by the number of times I fail but by the number of times I succeed, and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail." Step forward, make yourself do something. If you fail, try again. If you succeed, step forward again.

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Life lessons: Try, Failure, Try again.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."
— Samuel Beckett

via goodreads.com

Great quote.

Key points are
-Try again
-Failure is not bad.

F

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Kitbot Presentation (Kitbot On Steroids) | Simbotics

Kitbot Presentation (Kitbot On Steroids)

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Posted 3 months ago

Team 1114 on Jan 8, 2011 at Don Mills Collegiate

Presenters: Karthik Kanagasabapathy and Todd Willick

via simbotics.org

Simibotics, Team 1114 video on Kitbot on Steroids.

Great video and example of a FIRST Robotics team sharing resources.

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"Quought for The Day" Not a misspelling.

Announcing "Quought for The Day" series

By Rajesh Setty on Thu 21 Dec 2006, 12:25 AM - 0 Comments and 0 Reactions

No, there was no spelling mistake.

Quought = Question that provokes thought. Questions are important. Thinking is important. Questions that make you think are very important!

Some background first – I have always believed that it is not always the answers but sometimes asking one good question is what is required to make a difference in a person’s life or business or both. So as we approach the new year, I thought posting a series of questions that people should consider asking themselves in 2007 to get more out of their life or business or both. Since there is only so much that I can do alone, I reached out to several influencers and thought leaders to get those questions. Here was the question I asked these thoughtful, kind and smart people:

     So, what is the ONE important question a person should ask himself or herself in 2007?

I have started receiving those questions. My goal was to post one of these questions everyday but it will take me a long while to post them that way. So I decided to post more than one “Quought for the Day” starting today.

Here is the link to all the Quoughts.
Life Beyond Code:: Quought for the Day

For more about questions, please visit my Squidoo lens on the same topic
Squidoo lens: The Power of Questions

Note: The word “Quought” was coined by my friend Ashwin Rangan, former CIO of Walmart.com. Special thanks to Ashwin for the suggestion

via rajeshsetty.com

Interesting concept: Quought for the Day. "A question that provokes thought". This sounds like a good idea for journaling or reflecting.

Asking questions is such an important skill each of us needs to develop. Often times we ask all different kinds of questions but do we ever compile those answers for ourselves or even for others to read. Rajesh has done just that. He asked the same question of many others whom he feels are successful and has compiled and posted the answers here. Most often these questions are to others. He feels we should be asking ourselves these questions as well.

So, what is the one important question a person should ask himself or herself?

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Quote: Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us."

Author: Hal Borland

(Submitted by: RScrapIT)

via scrapbook.com

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Learn how to learn! Computer science teachers hopes.

Sem 3:  Learn a language (actually several) that we do not have a text book for.  Use an API, on-line resources and sample code to reach a fairly operational level in the language.  Hopefully learn how to learn.  I want them to be able to find and read the resources.

Kids hate to learn how to learn.  They want it handed to them in a nice package, hopefully in a step-by-step manner in a lecture.  (I kind of like it that way too but then I am also pretty lazy.)  For the Corona assignment I show them where to get the free download of Corona, how the website is laid out, which tutorials are halfway decent and some good sample code to look at.  At this stage I do not want to teach them to code, I want them to learn to code using the resources available.  The class becomes much more interactive.  The kids share the “how did you do that?” code.  They end up having to teach themselves to a large extent.  They learn how to learn.

via gflint.wordpress.com

Garth Flint shares in his "More on learning to learn" what he wants his kids to learn to to in his programming class. Semester 3, he wants to the students to "learn to learn". Many times, we as teachers give them each step of the procedure. We do not allow them to learn by learning itself. We as teachers need to move aside and be the guide. Let's provide resources and direct them in the right direction. This means we need to be prepared to allow them to struggle and sometimes even fail. Failure is a lesson learned as well. We are there ready to redirect and help them when they need it but not give them the answer.

Thank you to Garth for posting his thoughts for others to read.

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Magician? Jack of all trades? Mike Rowe Speaks To Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Mike Rowe Speaks To Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

8:56 am | 5/12/11

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Mike speaks to the Senate and shares his views on jobs, the skills gap, manufacturing and he announces the “Discover Your Skills” initiative and more.

Click here to watch Mike’s speech.

Read Mike’s Oral Testimony here.

Locate links to more articles and videos here.
Read Mike’s article “Get Ready to Get Dirty” here.

via mikeroweworks.com

Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs speaks to Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and it rings a bell with me. He talks about his Granddad being a jack of all trades. I have a Dad, Uncles and Granddads and not to mention, a father in law, who all fit the same mold, A job needed to be done, and they did it. No instruction manual, no internet, just go out and get it done. The following are a few key points Mike makes in his brief testimony to the committee with my comments. I hope you had the privilege to have one of these "magicians" that Mike mentions in your life. I will be forever influenced by these magicians and I am very thankful for that.

• I am more of a guest. I am more of an apprentice.
Humble is the word that comes to mind in his reference here. Always willing to learn more and giving credit where credit is due.

• Tell you about my grandfather – Jack of all trades
Did you have someone like this is your life? I hope you did. I was very fortunate to have several people who I feel fall into this category. They had such knowledge about so many things. Where did this knowledge come from? Experience, plain and simple. They were what we want our students and children to be today: Life long learners. They learned each and every day of their lives. Days were not made up by watching TV, but by learning by doing and most often it was by helping others in a time of need.

• Remember him mostly as a magician
It was amazing to me watching these gentlemen in my life do their craft. How did they do that? It appears right before my eyes just like the bunny out of the hat.

• Invited to about 12 hours of forced labor
I remember those times when I was "invited" out to help. I would never have consider not to be involved much less challenged them not to help. Many times the job would extend into longs hours of work but the time together seems so precious now as I look back.

• One of my Favorite days ever
I can still remember working on the three wheeler in the drive of the house, putting in the basketball goal in the backyard, thawing the pipes in the dead of winter because we need to have running water for the house, working on the tractor or plow that had broken down, etc.
• I had been disconnected from what used to fascinate me.
Are you disconnected? Do you just leave a check on the counter for the plumber? Who is he or she? Do you know them? Would someone you love learn and cherish the time that it would take to fix the problem at hand?

• I believe we need a national PR campaign for skilled labor.
America needs to be fixed. Education needs to be fixed. Not everyone is going to go to University for a degree. Skilled labor is important and needs to be valued not by our pocketbook but by the schools, parents and legislatures.

• Reconnect the country
Let's go build some relationships. Build some memories. Create some magicians for the future.

• Skills gap is real and getting wider

• Progress often is slowed due to lack of skilled workers

• Vocational arts have been vanished

• How can high unemployment can exist at the same time as skill labor shortage.
Many people find this very surprising. Our skilled worker force continues to get older and decrease in size. Who will fill their shoes when they are no longer there?
• Vocational consolation prizes for those that are not cut out for four year college.
Many people, including administrators at our schools, feel that vocational school and skilled labor is settling for something less than what our children are cut out for. Skilled labor built this country and we continue to need skilled labor and will always need skilled labor. Students should be exposed informed and educated about the possibilities in these careers.

• Guys like my granddad are no less important today
In fact they are more important today than ever before.

• Close the skills gap
How do we go about doing this? Change our programs! Inform students! Demand changes to our programs for our students.

Ira Morgan, Jack Morgan, PK McPearson, John Bates, ________________

Can you fill in the blank with a name who was a magician?

I hope you had the privilege to have one of these "magicians" that Mike mentions in your life. I will be forever influenced by these magicians and I am very thankful for that.

Thank you to my magicians for being so passionate about learning as a life long passion. We need to take some lessons from the simpler days.

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Chap Robotics Cardboard Boat Regatta

The link for the registration your sponsors will be here (posted later).

 

Be sure you put your potential sponsors in the form.  Rembember first come first serve.  Check to make sure no other team has put your potential contact in.  If another team has that business/organization/individual down, you may not contact them.  You must have all the information to fill in before you may claim that potential sponsor as yours. 

You will need to inculde how you will contact your potential sponsor, but remember, face-to-face is the best method of contacting potential sponors. 

You will need to get at least $150 worth of sponsorship for your team.  This sponsorship will be companies, businesses, organizations, etc that are not your family and/or parents.  You

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Don't Fail Me Know - Must See TV. Sunday, May 21 at 8 pm EDT

Just wanted to give you a heads up on a special program that aired this
past Sunday night. Soledad O'Brien's latest CNN documentary, Don't Fail Me, will be
rebroadcast on May 21 at 8 EDT.
The special is part of the network's continuing "In America" series.
CNN Special Featuring FIRST, Sunday 5/15 - REBROADCAST ON May 21 at 8
EDT, (7 Central). In "Education in America: Don't Fail Me," we learn that at this very
moment, America's future is at stake.

"If we don't generate the next group of innovators, scientists,
engineers, and problem solvers," inventor Dean Kamen warns, "our
standard of living, our quality of life, our security, will plummet!"

American students rank 17th in science and 25th in math when compared
to other industrialized nations. They don't have the skills to take on
the high tech jobs of the future.

This is because of how and what we teach American kids. It is also
because of a culture that values sports and celebrities above all.

The United States needs to change the way students are taught math and
science, and children need to be encouraged and inspired to take the
toughest classes in those subjects.

There is a nationwide competition designed to motivate high school
students to take those classes, push themselves, and learn more (FIRST).
Students Maria Castro, Brian Whited, and Shaan Patel are actively
involved in it. But is it too late for them? Is it too late for us?

For Teachers and Others Who Want to Discuss the CNN Program... Pre and
Post Program Questions, Learning Activities and Curricula Connections
can be found at:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/studentne...ide/index.html
FIRST® Robotics Competition Teams featured in the CNN Special include:
FRC Team 842, Falcon Robotics, Carl Hayden High School, Phoenix, Ariz.
FRC Team 1403, Cougar Robotics, Montgomery High School, Skillman, N.J.
FRC Team 3675, Eagletrons, Seymour High School, Seymour, Tenn.

Twitter Hash Tag for "Education in America: Don't Fail Me":
#dontfailme

Norman Morgan
Robotics I and II
Room 149 - NGC
512.732.9280 ext. 33459
Team 2468 - Who do you Appreciate? www.chaprobotics.com

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Sphero Spirit! « Orbotix - Robotic Ball controlled with your Phone

via orbotix.com

Very interesting example of a simple looking device that attracts and inspires students. The truth behind the story is the device is quite complicated. The CTO, Adam Wilson and CEO, Ian Bernstein openly discuss the robotic sphere in this video: http://www.coloradotechtv.com/gearbox-demos-a-robotic-ball.

You can find out more about the device at the following link: http://www.gosphero.com/.>

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Tinkering School: learning through doing | JonJolly.com

The video below is from Gever Tulley’s presentation at Big Ideas Fest 2009.

Although the movie is a little slow in explaining the educational concepts, there is some real gems in there that apply to all forms of education.

“The best engagement we got was when they were forced to deviate from the materials list.”

Essentially Tulley found that the kids were more engaged and active when they didn’t know the outcome of a project. He articulates it like this:

The opportunities for engaged learning are inversely proportional to the knowability of the outcome

Another point he makes is about the experience of education:

Create a meaningful experience and the learning will follow.
“Our best outcomes were from projects where we focused on the quality of the experience first… and looked for learning inside those experiences.”

Personally, I love this engaging and lively approach to education. Some parents have even started a blog on their experiences of allowing their kids to do the fifty dangerous things in Tulley’s book! Maybe we all need to be a little bit more dangerous in our learning…

via jonjolly.com

Engaged learning
Meaningful experience
Both of these are outcomes all educators want in their classrooms and parents should expect.

We need to provide these opportunities to all children of all ages. I believe each of us, no matter the age want these as well but many times we get lost in the everyday life and do not pursue this.

Thank you Gever Tulley for your Tinkering School model.

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Why Robotics in the Classroom - VEX World Championships

via youtube.com

Penn Trafford Robotics team interview and news coverage regarding their participation in the VEX World Championships this year.

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6 Weeks, 1 Goal, #omgrobots, Soledad O'Brien: Don't Fail Me on CNN May 15

via soledadobrieninfo.blogspot.com

I am looking forward to Soledad O"Brien's Don't Fail Me which airs on CNN May 15th. Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST Robotics speaks candidly with her about the future of our country and how his robotics competition helps solve the problem.

6 Weeks - 1 Goal - What will be the outcome?

Give the following video a look to get a sneak peak of the program.

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/05/soledad-o%E2%80%99brien-reports-...

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Seth's Blog: What's high school for?

« Seeing the truth when it might be invisible | Blog Home

What's high school for?

Perhaps we could endeavor to teach our future the following:

• How to focus intently on a problem until it's solved.
• The benefit of postponing short-term satisfaction in exchange for long-term success.
• How to read critically.
• The power of being able to lead groups of peers without receiving clear delegated authority.
• An understanding of the extraordinary power of the scientific method, in just about any situation or endeavor.
• How to persuasively present ideas in multiple forms, especially in writing and before a group.
• Project management. Self-management and the management of ideas, projects and people.
• Personal finance. Understanding the truth about money and debt and leverage.
• An insatiable desire (and the ability) to learn more. Forever.
• Most of all, the self-reliance that comes from understanding that relentless hard work can be applied to solve problems worth solving.

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Posted by Seth Godin on May 06, 2011 | Permalink

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via sethgodin.typepad.com

Seth hits the nail on the head here.

It is not about Standardized tests, it more about being able to function with others. Students do not need to memorize a set of how to's or details.

Learn more - Forever. We are in a continual learning cycle now in our modern day world. Students to know and embrace this fact.

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President Obama… Please Let Me Help You Make Science Cool | Steve Spangler's Blog

Mr. President, I would love to share what we’ve learned over the past 15 years of training nearly 30,000 teachers in ways to turn ordinary lessons into unforgettable learning experiences. I know that you’re serious about making science cool and I think that we can help. Honestly, I’ll share anything and everything we’ve learned about training an army of highly motivated teachers who are truly inspiring their students to look at STEM careers – science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

via stevespangler.com

Check out Steve's site for great videos and insights to how teachers are making science cool (already not again).

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Mr. McCluskey's Method — An Autodesk Film Preview

via youtube.com

Autodesk Film preview of Mr. Cluskey's Method. - Dead Poet's Society style.

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High school physics teacher has perfected the formula for inspiration

High school physics teacher perfects the formula for inspiring students

Amir Abo-Shaeer's successful combination includes founding a growing engineering academy and inspiring motivated, robot-building students. He is the first high school teacher to win a MacArthur Foundation 'genius' grant.

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Dos Pueblos High School physics teacher Amir Abo-Shaeer leads a high-achieving engineering academy at the Goleta, Calif., campus. Abo-Shaeer and his robot-building students are the subject of a new book, and a film is in the works. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times / March 1, 2011)

via latimes.com

Amir Abo-Shaeer is most definitely a model to follow. Check out the article above to gain a little insight to his program, beliefs and FIRST Robotics.

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Leadership Insights: Process or Outcome, Design with Intent

As a leadership team, we spent a few minutes watch and discussing this video about Kenyon College swim coach Jim Steen and this streak. Steen coached Kenyon to 31 consecutive Division III National Titles, a streak that was snapped just this year.

While the story of the swim team itself is amazing, the wisdom that guides the team and Steen offers many insights for leadership and schools.

1. Focus on the Process not the Outcome
2. Be Preoccupied with Being Successful
3. Design with Intent
4. The Same Path Leads to Stagnation
5. Imagination is More Important than Hard Work

Focus on the Process not the Outcome

It is ironic that I write these words on the day of the ACT, but I firmly believe that schools and communities that have the heart will turn their focus away from these outcomes and pour their energy into the process of learning.

Be Preoccupied with Being Successful

It seems Steen would have been preoccupied with winning given the 31 years of just that. Nope. The focus was on their definition of success. What is our definition of success not only for a score or national label but for the whole child, for life? How are we developing tunnel vision action for that locally defined, globally informed definition of success?

Design with Intent

A subtle point in the video but one that is worth noting is how they placed the 31 trophies. Instead of randomly placing them or using a predefined expectation of placing them all together to showcase the achievement, Steen designed with intent. He had them spread out in strategic locations to eliminate pressure while maintaining focus. How often do we design with intent in schools? Sure, the main pieces of schools are at least thought about, but what about the various nooks and crannies of schools? What about surfaces, hallways, stairs, and more? Are we designing every facet of our schools with intent?

The Same Path Leads to Stagnation

It is easy to rest upon what works. It is easy to be caught up in one’s own success. More and more, I am coming to realize that true leaders, real innovators, see the same and common paths as points of stagnation and inevitable regression. Steen talks about how he never travels the same way when he takes a trip and this is a metaphor for his philosophy. This is a powerful thought and one that makes me wonder how many paths we continue to travel each and every day in education. What are the points of stagnation in our organizations? Where are the different paths that would enlighten us? In many ways, it speaks directly to focusing on the process and being preoccupied with being successful. If you aren’t, you’ll take the path of least resistance that gives you the same answer, the known answer.

It reminds me of my favorite quote from Walt Disney: “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Imagination is more Important than Hard Work

As a leader, what do you see when you walk around the school? I fear that educators and students are being asked to work harder and harder not innovative, think deeply, and act boldly. How can we renew the spirit of the natural learning, creating, and curiosity? I also wonder about leaders. What are we challenging our leaders to do: work harder or innovative more?

Organizations focused on an outcome with a preoccupation of winning “The Race” are destined to travel the same path over and over that leads to harder work. With that, we kill the human spirit. We kill natural learning. We kill innovations.

No related posts.

via ryanbretag.com

Great video by the NCAA about coach Jim Steen and his program at Kenyon College. Being a former coach, I appreciate his words of advice. He has enjoyed the success in men's and woman's programs. He holds the two longest streaks for National Championships in NCAA history. He must be a great mentor as well since both of his streaks were broken by a former student of his own. Coach Steen not only is successful, but he has provided a model that proves successful for others in his sport.

Thanks to Ryan Bretag for posting this video and his comments above. Ryan has boiled down the essence of the video into a few words above. Thank you to Ryan for posting and sharing.

This post and video makes me want to evaluate myself, my school and my program. The key points all seem simple and very down to earth. Programs and school do not need complicated and whole sale changes, we need leaders such as Jim and Ryan.

To many times in education, we here "that is the way we have always done it", Coach Steen warns about utilizing the same path always leads to stagnation. Do you work with individuals who continue to follow the same path each year? Tried and true methods are good but don't we need to be continually improving. Our students are changing, we need to challenge ourselves to continue to meet their needs.

I know teachers and students at my school work extremely hard to be successful. Do we have to work so hard or is there a more effective way of achieving our goals and objectives? Does holding on the "old" create more work for all parties involved?

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How to use your calipers

via ladyada.net

Great explanation on how to utilize a digital caliper

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MightyOhm » Blog Archive » Announcing the “Soldering is Easy” Complete Comic Book!

Announcing the “Soldering is Easy” Complete Comic Book!

April 11th, 2011 by Jeff

Do you want to learn how to solder?  Do you want to make really cool things?  Do you want to teach other people how to solder (and make cool things too)?

I’m happy to announce the release of Soldering is Easy, a comic book that will teach anyone the basics of soldering.

This seven page comic book explains in detail and with pictures how to make a good solder connection.  It also teaches you all the other bits and pieces of knowledge  that you need to successfully solder together an electronic kit, even if you’ve never soldered before!

I worked with Mitch Altman (@maltman23) and Andie Nordgren to create this revised and extended version of the wildly popular one page handout that Mitch and Andie created in 2010.

The comic (and lots more cool stuff!) will be included in a book that Mitch and I are writing about How to Make Cool Things with Microcontrollers (For People Who Know Nothing). It will be published by No Starch Press later this year.

Here’s a sample page (click for a bigger version):

The original one page handout has been translated into lots of languages!  You can see a few of the existing translations on Mitch’s site.   We would love for people to translate the full comic book as well.  If you create a translation, please post a comment here and I’ll link to it!

The comic is released under a Creative Commons license (Attribution-ShareAlike), so you are free to teach with it, color it, modify it, share it with your friends, translate it, and basically do whatever you like with it!

English:

The complete comic book is available for download here:

“Soldering is Easy” Comic Book (PDF)

We also have some other versions of the comic available:

• FullSolderComic_Images_20110409.zip – 300 DPI images of each page
• FullSolderComic_NoText_20110409.zip – 300 DPI images without text (for translation)
• A PDF version without text is also available.
• FullSolderComic.zip – the Comic Life source file used to create all of the other versions.

High resolution images of both versions of the comic are also available on Flickr:

• “Soldering is Easy” Comic Book Flickr Set
• “Soldering is Easy” Comic Book for translation (no text) Flickr Set

via mightyohm.com

Soldering comic book

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Physical Computing at ITP | Policy / Cleanup

If you're taking a physical computing class this semester, or if you're planning a physical computing project for your thesis or another class, you need to sign up for TWO DAYS of shop cleanup during the semester. This means you're expected to show up half an hour before shop closing time, and see to it that the shop is clean and neat.

Anyone in the shop who's working at closing time should help, so don't do it alone. Ask your fellow classmates in the shop for assistance. If you're there at closing time, help out, even if you're not on clean-up duty that night.

If the shop is left a mess, it will be closed until it is cleaned.

Anyone using the shop for any project this semester is expected to sign up for cleanup.

Power tool area

• Sweep / vacuum all surfaces, including
  • the power tools - don't leave a layer of dust on them
  • table tops
  • behind power tool tables
• Make sure the lab assistants shut off power tools
• Put all hand power tools in Equipment Room
• Throw away all trash
• Sweep floor
• Close cabinets
• Close doors to power tool shop

Main Shop area

• Put all Hand tools away
• Put Soldering Irons in Equipment Room
• Put all student projects on shelves with names labeled on them
• Check that the tool drawers are in order:
  • Large Cabinet Top
  • Both Cabinets
  • Clamp drawer
  • Drillbits
  • Goggles and safety gear
  • Hammers
  • Handsaws, blades, etc.
  • Multimeters
  • Nut drivers
  • Pliers, tin snips, etc.
  • Rivet tools
  • Sandpaper, dremel, etc.
  • Screwdrivers
  • Sockets
  • Tape, Staple Guns, etc.
  • Tape Measures
  • Wire Cutters
  • Cutting Blades

• Identify any damaged tools, email itp.helpdesk@nyu.edu
• Put any unidentified parts in a blue bin on the worktable
• Put any leftover wire or electronic parts in appropriate bins in cabinet
• Sweep all tabletops
• Sweep floor
• Close cabinets
• Initial your name on the cleanup schedule
• Turn off lights

IF THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE WORKING AFTER YOU LEAVE:

• Clean up as much as possible
• Get all the names and email addresses of people still working
• Email those names to itp.helpdesk@nyu.edu and tom.igoe@nyu.edu
• Inform those people that they should clean up the rest of the shop
• Show them where this checklist is

IF YOU ARE THE LAST PERSON (or people) HERE:

• Do everything on this checklist;
• even if it is not your day to clean up.
• even if you didn't make the mess.

via itp.nyu.edu

Clean up policy. I need to instill this in my team and myself.

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RoboZZle online puzzle game

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Simple programming of an online robot.

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IncrediBots • IncrediBots

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Have a little fun building Incredibots

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Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation - Video on Advances in Metal fabrication

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How are things made? Fabrication methods demonstrated and explained.

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Power Tool Institute - Home

Check out this website I found at powertoolinstitute.com

Great resource site on Powertool safety with videos and educational materials.

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Design Thinking for Educators

Process

DISCOVERY

I have a challenge.
How do I approach it?

Discovery builds a solid foundation for ideas.
Creating meaningful solutions for people begins with a deep understanding for their needs. Discovery means opening up to new opportunities, and getting inspired for new ideas.

INTERPRETATION

I learned something.
How do I interpret it?

Interpretation transforms stories to meaningful insights. Observations, field visits, or just a simple conversation can be great inspiration—but finding meaning in that and turning it into actionable opportunities for design is not an easy task. It involves storytelling, sorting and condensing thoughts, until a compelling point of view and clear direction for ideation emerge.

IDEATION

I see an opportunity.
What do I create?

Ideation means generating lots of ideas. Brainstorming encourages expansive thinking without constraints. Often it’s the wild ideas that spark the thought for something visionary. With careful preparation and a set of rules to follow, a brainstorm session can yield hundreds of fresh ideas.

EXPERIMENTATION

I have an idea.
How do I build it?

Experimentation brings ideas to life. Building prototypes means making ideas tangible, learning while building them, and sharing them with other people. Even early and rough prototypes can evoke a direct response and help learn how to further improve and refine an idea.

EVOLUTION

I tried something.
How do I evolve it?

Evolution is the development of a concept over time. It involves planning next steps, communicating the idea to people who can help realize it, and documenting the process. Change often happens
over time, and reminders of even subtle signs of progress are important.

The design process is what puts Design Thinking into action. It’s a structured approach to generating and developing ideas.

The Design Thinking Toolkit for Educators, available as a free download here, provides guidance through the five phases of the design process. It outlines a sequence of steps that leads from defining a challenge to building a solution. The toolkit offers a variety of instructional methods to choose from, including concise explanations, useful suggestions and tips.

via designthinkingforeducators.com

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Columnists 04-15-2011 :: AmericanWay

Aye, Robot

by Cathy Booth Thomas

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MULTITASKING: Science meets sports in this robotic competition for high schoolers.

Five minutes into John Sperry’s high school robotics class, I realize I’m out of my depth intellectually — and they haven’t even started talking mechanics or physics yet. Juliette Heyman, a 17-year-old junior, is standing in front of the class, writing down strategies for winning this year’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition as classmates lob ideas at her. “How about blocking lanes?” one student offers. Juliette writes it down. “Can you descore?” asks another. Scribble, scribble. Shove a robot against a wall? Impede its visibility? How about two runner robots clearing the way for a scoring robot? What about strategic alliances? Soon, they’re talking deliverables and deadlines. On Monday, there will be a quiz on the 70-plus-page contest rules.

It’s a Sunday at Anderson High School in Austin, Texas, and the room is packed with teenagers, ages 14 to 18, who are surprisingly wide awake and engaged. It’s day two of Anderson High’s six-week crunch to get a robot built for the 20th season of robot madness ending with the FIRST Championship, to be held in St. Louis from April 27 to 30.

“Every spring, I live robotics,” says Caroline Moy, part of the team’s leadership (along with Nate McLauchlin), whose dad has been known to beg her to leave school at 10 p.m., after a 15-hour day. In January, the Anderson team and about 50,000 other robot maniacs tuned in to hear Segway inventor Dean Kamen and Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas announce this year’s challenge: a robotic game called Logo Motion, involving six teams competing on a 27-foot-by-54-foot field. Each team’s robot must earn points by hanging pieces shaped like a triangle, a circle or a square on a rack. (Bonus points if the robot’s minibots can climb a 9-foot tower in the last 10 seconds.) “It’s not just about building a robot. It’s ‘How can we design the robot correctly so it can accomplish the task?’ ” explains Matt Carroll, 16.

The robotics competition is only part of the FIRST Championship, the NBA Finals of science and technology for students competing for awards, trophies and medallions. High schoolers are eligible to apply for scholarships totaling more than $14 million. Corporate mentors from Microsoft to NASA are on hand to help the nearly 2,000 teams (50,000-plus contestants) win the show. And it is a show, make no mistake. There are amped-up teens, cheerleaders, bands, DJs and awards. It’s how Kamen envisioned FIRST back in 1989, when he realized the United States was falling behind in science and engineering. He deliberately picked the sports model, setting up double-elimination tournaments, bringing in the hoopla of sports to show that science and technology don’t have to be boring. Last year, 10,000 students from 30 countries and 10,000 volunteers took over Atlanta’s Georgia Dome.

Kamen made millions on medical devices and the Segway. Eager to give back, he created the SEE (Science Enrichment Encounters) Science Center, a “little science museum” next to his business, DEKA Research & Development, in Manchester, N.H. One Saturday, he says, he walked into a mob of shrieking kids and parents and asked a student to name a famous scientist, engineer or inventor. “He looked at me with a blank stare. So I asked the next kid, the next kid … and I realized that all these kids are in this science center wearing Celtics T-shirts and Bruins T-shirts and Patriots sweatshirts,” he says. Then he asked the parents. Finally, one said, “Well, Einstein, but I think he’s dead.”

“All of a sudden, it hit me like a ton of bricks. In a free country, in a free culture, you get what you celebrate,” he says. Kids see sports and music figures making it big, so that’s whom they emulate — even if their chances of breaking through are minimal.

At Anderson High today, however, 35 teenagers are getting into Kamen’s dream with the help of mentor David Yanoshak, an engineer at Texas Instruments, and adviser Sperry. Matt Carroll and Trent Pokorny, both 16, are unloading boxes of robot parts with 14-year-old Casey Aldridge. They have just six weeks to build a robot for regionals in hopes of making the FIRST national competition. “This is what we call our kitbot,” Matt explains. “They give us a basic robotics platform to start out with, so there are different iterations of the kitbot we can make.”

“ ‘Iterations,’ huh? You sure you’re 16?” I ask Matt.

“I picked it up around here. If the robot doesn’t work, you iterate it,” he says, nonchalantly.

FIRST has paid off for Anderson. Of the 30 seniors on past robot teams, more than 76 percent are studying science, technology, engineering or math in college. A new class of freshmen is eager to follow. “We put in a 14-hour day yesterday. Our turnout is great, more than 30 kids. On a Sunday,” Sperry says.

Point made.

---

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via americanwaymag.com

Way to Go AusTIN Cans.

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Dr. Mariappan Jawaharlal: The Fourth 'R'

Would you consider any of the following fun to learn?

• The formula for the circumference of a circle
• Finding the slope of a line
• Determining the coefficient of static friction between two materials
• Finding the instantaneous velocity of a moving object
• Physical meaning behind Newton's laws

Most people consider these as boring things that would only interest a nerd. What if I told you students of all ages from third grade to college are excited about learning hard core science and math? Unbelievable, but true, thanks to robotics. Robotics is an exciting field. It fascinates and engages people of all ages. It is truly a multidisciplinary area which combines mechanical, electrical, electronics and control engineering and computer science. Robotics is being increasingly considered as the Fourth essential "R" after the 3 Rs: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. In this competitive world, STEM education defines the underpinning of an advanced society. U.S. students have been consistently performing low in STEM education and one way to make STEM education engaging and meaningful is to use Robotics as the basic platform because all major STEM concepts can be taught through robotics.

What is interesting is the fact that even though robots are complex machines, today's technology makes it possible for even children to design, build and program robots. Building robots makes learning engaging, fun and meaningful. It provides a highly practical, hands-on experience. It helps to develop much needed critical thinking skills and problem solving strategies. Building robots help to understand abstract concepts in math and science. Robotics gives meaning to formulas and laws that students usually memorize without any understanding.

When working with robotics, students are immersed in the experience. Real learning occurs when learners are immersed in an activity, required to perform, and take corrective actions. Learner engagement, satisfaction, knowledge retention and competency mastery are achieved when students are involved and led through a guided discovery process rather than being "told" how to get the right answers. With robotics students learn difficult STEM concepts without realizing that they are intensively engaged in the learning process. Learning becomes a natural, fun process.

There have been many successful initiatives such as First Lego League, VEX Robotics World Championship and FIRST Robotics in the past decade. In order to make a real difference, robotics should be taught as a subject starting from third grade onwards. National Robotic week is celebrated from April 9-17, 2011. Celebrate this week to inspire students of all ages to pursue careers in STEM areas.

via huffingtonpost.com

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Treat Math and Science stars like Sports Stars

Let's Treat Our Math and Science Stars Like Sports Stars

Posted: 04/20/11 02:25 PM ET

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Team 254 "The Cheesy Poofs" from Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, Calif. received the High School Excellence Award at the 2011 VEX Robotics Competition World Championships. Photo credit: Steven Rainwater

Last year the young winners of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) Robotics Championship went to the White House and shook President Obama's hand -- just like the winners of the NCAA basketball tournament do. We should make a practice of giving our math and science stars the same level of recognition we award our sports stars. It could be a key component of attracting students to the sciences and graduating the kind of talented adults companies around the world want to hire.

I saw why this past week at the VEX Robotics Championships in Orlando. Both VEX and FIRST do something you might not expect of a robotics contest: they cultivate teamwork and the kind of social skills that turn smart kids into bona fide leaders. The only difference between robotics stars and sports stars, it turns out, is that the careers of robotics champions don't have a shelf life.

The secret sauce of robotics competitions -- VEX and FIRST are just two of several in the U.S. -- is relevance. The teams are given a real-world goal: to raise money and build a robot of their own design that can go head to head with other teams' robots to complete a series of complicated tasks. It's hands-on, project-based learning, which is precisely the kind of approach that transforms math and science from intimidating subjects to engaging fun.

What's more is that in an increasingly virtual world, robotics contests force kids to work together face to face and develop the kind of communications skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. When companies like Lockheed Martin are weeding through 1,000 resumes for a single opening, it's the candidate who can make presentations to management who gets the job offer.

Kids dream of being sports heroes; organizations like VEX and FIRST are giving them reasons to dream of being science and technology leaders. Competition and recognition might be exactly what kids need to feel that pull to exercise -- their minds.

via huffingtonpost.com

This past weekend, Westlake High School Robotics competed at BEST World Championships at the VEX World Championships. Many of the teams competing there compete in FIRST robotics as well along with us.

Cheesy Poofs, Thunderchickens, AusTIN Cans, Simbotics, LASA, DiscoBots and RoboWranglers are ones that come to mind right off hand. All of these teams have inspired me as an educator and robotics coach. Each of these teams competes on a very high level and have for many years.

I coach high school athletics for 17 years and enjoyed each of those years. Many of these included coaching multiple sports at the middle school as well as junior varsity and varsity levels. As I enjoy watching the Spurs in a playoff basketball game tonight, I watch and listen to the excitement of the fans at the arena. This past weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, I experienced the same excitement as teams from all over the world competed at the VEX World and BEST World Championships.

Each time I go to a contest, I am amazed at the robots that are present at these contests. Students work along professional coaches (mentors) to evaluate, prototype and build a robot to meet the requirements of the contest.

Students take away more than just participating in a contest. The robot and competition is the hook to get them excited but there is more important aspects to these contests. Students get excited at these contests as an athletic event but they also get to experience the same thrill of excitement and agony of defeat as Wide World of Sports said for so many years on the commercials. The air eventually leaks out of the ball for nearly all athletes, but the students on these teams are in this for life. NO EXPIRATION DATE on their participation in related activities.

Students work together hand in hand with each other to solve the problems with the assistance of professional mentors to guide them along the way. Students learn from professionals how to problem solve and communicate with each other.

As the article says " Competition and recognition might be exactly what kids need to feel that pull to exercise -- their minds."

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Semifinals

Great day for Chap Robotics.  We advanced to the final eight teams out of the 24 who qualified for BEST World Championships. These 24 qualified by winning their local hub and then their regional/state contest. Approximately 800 teams competed this year. Westlake finished in the top 1% of robots in the contest World wide.

We also won third in the Most Robust Robot award.

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Semifinal one

2112 points by robert and grant.

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Match 6 - last match - great job

90 packaged, 26 delivered.
Finished preliminaries in fourth place.

Semifinals here we come

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Match 5 - another good round

79 gadgets packaged , 22 delivered, 1 cone by Claude and Aaron. Pits up in 4th place

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Lunch is over, starting again in 4th place

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Match 2 and 3 results of Chaps at Best World Champs

Round 2

74 gadgets packaged, 27 delivered, 2 cones.   1856 points

Round 3

87 gadgets packaged, 30 delivered, 1 cones.   2026 points

Two good rounds in a row. Strategy still working.

Moved to seventh place.

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