World of motion keeps education on the move

SAE International has developed a program called A World in Motion as an opportunity for students and teachers to explore STEM by taking on challenges that begin to develop students’ understanding of basic concepts of physical science in an engineering design context.

Angela and Bruce Hutcheon are both engineers and have volunteered to partnership with the school to help create an “Engineering Design Experience” in Ms. Slade’s first grade class at Flickinger Elementary. Angela Hutcheon works for General Motors and Bruce Hutcheon works for the Army.

A unique feature of this program is the use of portions of a problem solving process employed by engineers working in teams and taught at many engineering schools around the country. The “Engineering Design Experience” is a process by which engineers examine what must be accomplished and whom the product is for; gather and synthesize information; design, develop and test a prototype design; and prepare a presentation of their design ideas.

Students are participating in a “Rolling Things” challenge. Students are exploring how changing the ramp height and vehicle weight affect the momentum of toy cars. Students are developing an understanding of what it means to conduct a fair test. They are exploring hands on materials, testing their ideas and drawing their own conclusions based on the evidence they gather. The program also integrates literacy into the challenge.

Students will be participating in the program for eight weeks and the program correlates with district and state standards.