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Flywheel Car 20171013 PBP Center

Today we built cars powered by flywheels and learned about inertia and the first law of motion; that objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects that are still tend to stay still. The kids loved being able to see their cars move and overall had fun with them. A few build issues were encountered regarding the gearbox though some of these were due to the fault of the model. During the lecture segment Eva was able to readily point out the relationship between the mass of the flywheel and the amount of energy that it carried and demonstrated good reasoning skills.

I ask that parents get the children the do their homework and to help them clean up a bit less violently.

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Communication ECA Phase I Class 5: The SkyWheels 20171011 Amir

All of the kids enjoyed playing with their legos and they all finished their projects in time, which was great. The Skywheels is a car that allows the kids to learn about the concept of inertia. Although the concept was not easy for some of the kids to grasp, they got a thorough introduction to it and some understood it really well. As fun and engaging as the class is, we once again ask the kids to respect the class time and place their pieces back in the box when the class is over.  This way we can focus on making the classes more enjoyable and educational for them. Next week we will be working on the Dragster which is another project that focuses on basic physics concepts.

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Communication ECA Phase I Class 5: Fly Wheeler 20171011

The students first built a Lego Fly Wheeler, which can be used to get impression of the rotational moment of inertia. They conducted the experiments to observe the travel distances under the different fly wheeler weights. During the experiment, the students need to use the wheeler with different weights, thus the arm energy to get up to the same approximate initial speed are different. Due to the gearbox system connecting with the fly wheeler, the heavier the wheeler is, the more amount of energy is stores to transfer to moving or kinetic energy. The STEM information behind this section is the rotational moment of inertia and the gearbox system. All the students finished the model building part and did the experiment with different level. They enjoyed this section.

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Communication ECA Phase III Class 4: Pneumatics: Scissor Lift 20171011

The theme of today is building a scissor lift model, which is the application of the pneumatic system of the last lecture. In this section, the built scissor model consist pneumatic components from cylinders and pumps to the air valve, the air tank, and the manometer. With the built model, 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 example explaining the air storage system in the pneumatic system.

The STEM information behind this section is the application of pneumatic systems. The cylinder piston rod force output can be calculated by multiplying the air pressure with the piston area. All the students finished the model and the experiments. The application sections interest them more than the principal model introductions.

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Communication ECA Phase I Class 4: Amir’s Sweeper 20171004

In class the kids worked on the sweeper which is a mechanical vehicle that clears the path in front of it. It was a good exercise to help them learn the concepts of motion, force, and friction while enjoying their time playing with legos. This project was a little more challenging than the previous weeks, but everybody was able to finish in time and understood the assignments well. Next week we will be working on an interesting project called The FlyWheel.

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Communication ECA Phase II Class 4: Principal Model 20171004

In the last class we started working on the Principal Models. They are a collection of projects that help the children learn about introductory physics, and a great exercise for learning about the concepts of motion, force, friction, weight, potential energy, etc. Each task is divided into small parts, so they are easily grasped by the kids. To make the class more than a science course, and to make it engaging and enjoyable, the kids took their time to play with their legos and compare them with each other. Next week we will continue to work on the Principal Models.

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Communication ECA Phase I Class 4: Sweeper 20171004

The students first built a Lego Sweeper, which can be used to study the gear system. They conducted the experiment to observe the sweeper rotation speed under the different gear combinations. During the experiment, the students need to change the combination of gears, so the gear ratio is different, thus the rotation speed varies. The STEM information behind this section is the gear ratio of gear systems, which can be calculated by the gear teeth number of the passive driven gear divide by the active drive gear. All the students finished the model building part and did the experiment with different level. They enjoyed this section.

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Communication ECA Phase III Class 4: Pneumatic: Principal Model 20171004

The theme of today is the principal model introduction of Pneumatic systems, which is the key tutor lecture of the next following four sessions. Generally, the chief purpose of this section is to learn the basic knowledge of the pneumatics systems by conducting several experiments.

In this section, 13 models with increasing complexity were built. The models consist components from just cylinders and pumps to the air valve, the air tank, and the manometer. With the complexity of the model increased, the students learned the design philosophy and working principles of the cylinder, the pump, the air valve, the air tank, and the manometer, which built a solid ground for the next following advanced pneumatic application models.

The STEM information behind this section is the pneumatic systems including the cylinder, tubes, and the air pressure measurement instruments. All the students followed the tutor instructions and finished the designed model experiments. The principal model introduction section is very informative but less interesting.

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Communication AmbroseU Phase I Class 4: The Sweeper 20171003

The kids worked on The Sweeper, which is a vehicle with a mechanical fan-like object attached to its front. The Sweeper clears the path in front of it as it moves, which is where the name comes from. Although this was a bit more challenging than other projects, the kids enjoyed their time and finished their projects. The Sweeper allows the children to learn how mechanical objects can be combined and manipulated in order to serve a specific role, and is thus a good engineering practice.

Next week the kids will be working on fun project called The Skywheels.

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Communication PBP Center Phase I Class 3: The Hammer 20170929

Today the students built the Power Hammer and explored friction. The students all completed the build on time and, particularly the boys, loved the build. Avery demonstrates excellent spacial cognition and completes the builds faster than expected, I may be encouraging him to help other students if the need arises. Clean up was done in a quick and efficient manner, thank you to the parents that helped out.

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