Engineering in the Classroom

Funded May 16, 2013

Thank you very much for your wonderful generosity, because of your donations, I was able to purchase a set of Solar transformers and a class set of balloon propelled helicopters.

The helicopters were great to teach the students thrust and lift, the students were able to observe the design of the rotors, and were able to test the source of propulsion, the balloons. They tested several sizes of balloons and recorded the lift, speed and power, they made estimations and compared those estimations with actual performances, just like real test- crafts.

The Solar Transformers fit beautifully into our STEM curriculum, where one of our components is alternate sources of energy. Students built the different types of vehicles that were possible with the transformers, a race car, a dump truck, and a concept car. Students recorded the speed and energy spent by each vehicle. They video taped the performances of their vehicles and made Power Points of their findings. Students were able to capture the energy from the sun through the little solar panels and observed how it powered the motors of the vehicles.

Both of these projects helped the students be engineers by following the engineering process of planning, building, testing, redesigning, and testing again. Our STEM students are highly motivated and thoroughly enjoyed the helicopters and the solar transformers, you played a big part in their development; our country needs engineers and hopefully, through projects like these, our students will follow that path.

Thank you once more, we are so grateful to you. We hope you continue to support Donorschoose.org and help the teachers in the quest of a great future for our students.”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Granado