Paul D. Schreiber High School
Technology Education Department
Principles of Engineering
Name: ______Class: ______Date: ___ /___ /___
Paul D. Schreiber High School
Technology Education Department
2009 – 2010 Principles of Engineering (POE) – Course Outline
Introduction: Students will become familiar with the procedure rules and regulations while in the POE lab as well as the requirements necessary for the successful completion of the course. Each student will become familiar with and utilize safe work practices while in the POE lab as well as while working with the tools and equipment used within the lab. All students must pass a safety test (85% or above) prior to being permitted to work in the POE Lab.
· Class routine and courtesy in the classroom.
· What is expected of each student once he/she enters the room?
· Assigned seating
· What is engineering?
· Course outline for the next forty weeks.
· Required materials, notebook (hard bound composition book) and portfolio development which will include all written work, detailed drawings and photographs of class activities.
· Safety in the POE Lab
· Tour of POE Lab
· Instructional technology – computer software programs and internet utilization (use of Rm.141 and computers in the POE/Robotics Lab)
· Grades – Students grades will be based upon the following
o 20% all written work (includes tests, notebook, lab write-ups, etc.)
o 30% class participation
o 50% student projects
Introduction to engineering concepts: Students will become familiar with and utilize the principles, concepts and procedures used in engineering to solve problems and make improvements in today’s technologically changing world. This procedure will allow students to better adapt to the changes of tomorrow through the use of the following practices.
· Decision making
· Design
· Modeling
· Optimization
· Analysis
· Ethics
· Assessment
· Information and evaluation
Equipment, supplies and related safety: Students will be given instruction on the proper and safe use of all tools, equipment and materials as well as all necessary daily clean up and maintenance procedures necessary to ensure that the learning environment of the lab is safe and productive. The correct use, safety and maintenance of the woodworking, metalworking, electrical and electronic as well as plumbing tools, equipment and materials will be demonstrated and discussed prior to a students permission to use them.
Reverse Engineering: Engineering is the profession involved in designing, manufacturing, constructing, and maintaining of products, systems, and structures. At a higher level, there are two types of engineering: forward engineering and reverse engineering.
Forward engineering is the traditional process of moving from high-level abstractions and logical designs to the physical implementation of a system. In some situations, there may be a physical part without any technical details, such as drawings, bills-of-material, or without engineering data, such as thermal and electrical properties.
The process of duplicating an existing component, subassembly, or product, without the aid of drawings, documentation, or computer model is known as reverse engineering. Reverse engineering can be viewed as the process of analyzing a system to:
1. Identify the system's components and their interrelationships
2. Create representations of the system in another form or a higher level of abstraction
3. Create the physical representation of that system
4. Lab write-up and summary of reverse engineering project
Bioengineering – Hydroponics: The following on going class project, will overlap with other individual and/or group projects to be completed with in this course. All students are required to actively participate in the design, construction and setup of their systems as well as maintain the systems while developing a log containing observations and record daily and weekly data collected while graphing and evaluating the resulting data. This log will be a computer generated spreadsheet as well as a graphic summarization of each groups findings.
· Hydroponics – Students will become familiar with the construction, operation, care and purposes of utilizing hydroponics gardening while illustrating the need for continuous improvement through the use of the basic principles of engineering.
o What is hydroponics?
o Why is it important to study hydroponics?
§ Agricultural
§ NASA
o Plant growth cycle
o Plant mediums
o Plant nutrition
o Nutrients
o pH
o Types of systems
o Artificial lighting
o Starting the growing process
o Potential problems
o Designing and construction of hydroponics system
o Collection of data and measurements
o Testing, evaluation and comparison of different hydroponics systems
o Lab write-up and summary of hydroponics systems results
Invention Report: Students will choose an invention and develop a presentation which will review the inception of the invention, follow its development (timeline), describe its present use as well as predict its future use within society.
· Determine the invention to be researched.
· Library – Research available texts and books time in library.
· Computer Lab –
§ Search available internet sites for information.
§ Develop PowerPoint presentation demonstrating all of the criteria listed above.
· Present to the class your findings.
Auto Safety and Car Crash: Students will become knowledgeable of the safety developments within the automotive industry utilized to decrease the fatality rate of the motor vehicle. Each student will develop a prototype vehicle in which they will test and analyze its performance in order to develop safer vehicles for transportation.
· Development of project rational
· National statistics
· History of motor vehicle safety equipment and systems (seat belts, padded interior, air bags, ABS, etc.) Two day research project in library.
· Applied forces of a car crash
· Design of crash vehicle
o Chassis
o Crumple zone
o Restraint system
o Body design
· Testing and evaluation
· Construction of prototype
· Testing and evaluation
· Collection of data and analysis
· Lab write-up and summary of vehicle crash results
Electricity and Magnetism – Mag Lev. Students will study the theory and principles of magnetism and electricity while developing a zero emissions vehicle that could be used for public transportation in the future.
· Theory of electricity and magnetism
· Designing a vehicle based on magnet theory
· Development of a working prototype
· Testing and analysis of prototypes performance
· Designing a vehicle based on magnet and electrical theory
· Development of a working prototype
· Testing and analysis of prototypes performance
· Testing and evaluation of design
· Collection of data and measurements
· Lab write-up and summary of Maglev vehicle project.
Electronics – Student will learn the various components of electrical devises and understand their use and function. The student will then test his newly obtained knowledge by constructing an electronic devise.
· Identify and understand electronic devises
· Reading electrical diagrams
· Construct an electronic devise according to written directions and a schematic
· Testing and evaluation performance
· Lab write-up and summary electronics projects
Structures – Truss and Bridge Construction. Students will become knowledgeable of the properties of various shapes configurations and materials utilized in the construction of the various types of bridges. They will solve problems related to the construction of bridges as well as utilize the principles of engineering to develop a prototype structure which will be tested to determine its structural integrity (ability to hold weight). This will be accomplished through the students knowledge and ability to complete this project based on the their previous bridge building project at Weber, an interactive online structure building program as well as the requirements of this year’s West Point Bridge Competition.
· Purpose of bridges and related structures
· Types of bridges and related structures
· Building materials testing and analysis
· Trusses and applied forces
· Design and Construction of structure prototypes
· Collection of data and measurements
· Testing, evaluation and comparison of structure prototypes
· Lab write-up and summary of structure construction project.
Simple Machines – Rube Goldberg. Students will become knowledgeable of the basic simple machines while developing a project that be based on a set of required criteria ending in accomplishing a designated task and performing work.
· Who is Rube Goldberg?
· What are the basic simple machines
· What is mechanical advantage
· Design and construction of a prototype project to complete a designated task.
· Collection of data and measurements
· Testing, evaluation and comparison of prototypes
· Lab write-up, detailed explanation and summary of each step within the completed Rube Goldberg project.
Alternative Energy – Solar, wind, nuclear, geo-thermal, etc. After a review of the theory and use of basic electrical and electronic components students will demonstrate their new found knowledge by exploring and developing prototypes of the various forms of alternative energy. Projects such as wind mills and solar powered vehicle will be developed to test, evaluate and compare the various forms of alternative energy.
· What are the different forms of alternative energy?
· How do they work?
· Designing and construction of an alternative energy prototype
· Testing and evaluation of design
· Collection and analysis of data and measurements
· Lab write-up and summary of alternative energy project.
Hydrogen/Solar cell vehicle. – Through the generous grant provided by the PWEF, students will explore the use of hydrogen as a fuel of the future as a zero emission vehicle. After reviewing the theory and use hydrogen fuel cells, students will utilize a model vehicle that is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell receiving its power from a solar voltaic cell. This combining of alternative energy sources opens further opportunities for to the way we transport goods and services as well as people in the future.
· What is a hydrogen fuel cell?
· How does it work?
· Operating a model hydrogen/solar cell vehicle.
· Testing, observation and evaluation of design
· Pros/Cons of hydrogen fuel cells
· Future uses of hydrogen fuel cells
· Lab write-up and summary of hydrogen fuel cells/solar cell vehicle project.
Changes to or additional projects may be implemented into the course outline as deemed necessary to meet the needs of the curriculum as well as the students interest.
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