Day: February 13, 2018

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Communication ECA Phase III Class 5: Pneumatics: Scissor Lift 20180207

The theme of today is scissor lift, which is the first application of the pneumatic system. The scissor model composes pneumatic components including cylinders, pumps, air valves, air tanks, and manometers. In the process of building models, the students got a deeper understanding of the design philosophy and working principles of the pneumatic system, which built a solid ground for the next following more advanced pneumatic application models. This section is a good illustration of the air storage system in the pneumatic system.

The STEM information behind this section is the application of pneumatic systems. The cylinder piston rod output forces can be calculated by multiplying the air pressure to the piston area. All the students finished the model and the experiments. They are ready for the next more advanced pneumatic systems.

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Communication ECA Phase II Class 5: Motion: The Ramp 20180207

The topic of today is the Ramp. Ramps have been used since ancient times to help move heavy objects or large quantities of materials from one level to another. Today, automobile transport services use the ramp on their trucks to load multiple vehicles on one transport. In the class, the students built the model ramp and the box frame in order to investigate how angle and wheels affect the needed effort.

Two students built one model as a group, then they conducted experiments by using effort weight to pull their box frame from the bottom of the ramp to the top. They tested their built models on three ramps with different angles, then compared the mechanical efficiency of different ramp systems. The STEM information behind this section is the ramp’s mechanical advantage. All students finished the model and experiments, they enjoyed the class.

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Communication ECA Phase I Class 5: Fly Wheel 20180207

This class went much better than the previous classes in the sense that more children were able to finish their projects and assignments in time, which gave them a bit of free-play time at the end of the class. As usual, this class allowed them to practice scientific concepts related to mechanics and supplied them with an in-class assignment to make sure they have grasped the material. Concepts such as preservation of energy and inertia were practiced, and the assignment asked them to predict the position of their vehicle after it had been launched. I was very happy with their performance, and even happier to see that their work is improving each week. 

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