| A team of 12 high school
students has helped to develop hands-on fluid power activities to engage
visitors to the Science Museum of Minnesota galleries, in conjunction with
the NSF-funded Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP), an
Engineering Research Center based at the University of Minnesota.
The Center established the Fluid Power Youth Science Team, whose members
have also helped teach K-12 groups at outreach sites including schools
and after-school centers. To date, the students have designed 11
of these activities, which have been used by more than 2,000 museum visitors
and with children in other outreach activities.
The Youth Science Team was
recruited in October 2007 and reflects the racial, gender, and economic
diversity of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Team members are
employed through the Youth Science Center at the Museum, a youth employment
and development program designed to engage underrepresented middle to high
school students. As a result of their science museum work and their
interaction with the CCEFP, team members are for the first time being introduced
to fluid power and, more generally, to the field of mechanical engineering.
The team's activities will
be compiled into a resource book that includes instructions for other youth
teams and educators. The Fluid Power Team is also designing and co-fabricating
an exhibit display, with assistance from the museum's exhibits staff, that
highlights the research projects and applications in the CCEFP.
The Team has established
a website (http://yscfluidteam.ning.com) as a means of sharing its finding
and projects, not only throughout the CCEFP, but also with future Youth
Science Center teams and the world. |
