IUPUI Created Lesson Plans

• Mechanical Advantage - P. Hylton & W. Otoupal, 2005
  
  Introduction
  This module is derived from activities that I created and used with students between their freshman and sophomore years in high school. The concept was to expose students to the engineering concept of Mechanical Advantage, coupled with the math concepts necessary to analyze it. I believe this is easily adaptable to lower grades because the mechanical principles are ones that even elementary school students have used, and the basic math can be reduced to a very simple level.
  
  
  • Module1 PDF
    
    
• Engineering Construction - P. Hylton & W. Otoupal, 2005
  
  Introduction
  Building balsa wood bridges has become a staple of pre-engineering courses for elementary and secondary school students in summer camps around the country. During the past two years I have been involved with middles school students and high school freshmen from the Indianapolis Public Schools system. I have also utilized a balsa wood construction project. However, I felt that simply giving the students wood and glue and turning them loose to build was the wrong way to go. So in this module, I begin by examining a number of details that will enhance their construction project, and in the process, the students gather, plot, and evaluate data and relationships and explore some geometric properties that lead to better construction.
  
  
  • Module2 DOC
    
    
• Lego Mindstorms for 5th Grade - Bill Conrad
  
  Introduction
  These lesson plans were created by Mrs. Kenya Taylor-Wash and Mr. Alan Mays, 5th grade teachers at Otis E. Brown School #20, Indianapolis Public Schools. The plans utilize Lego Mindstorms and Robolab software and and are the culmination of a format that was originally designed for use in a 1 week, 5 hours per day “camp” setting. Mrs. Taylor-Wash and Mr. Mays reconfigured some of these projects, reducing them to a two-week set of lessons that require approximately 1.5 hours per day. These lesson plans are used in their 5th grade classrooms. All of the lessons integrate math, science, and language arts and cover numerous Indiana State Standards. The Standards are listed in the lesson plans.

  This project was funded by an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Foundation grant. The “camp” format was taught by Professor William Conrad, School of Engineering and Technology, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Lego Robotics is offered to children in grades 5-8 through the IUPUI Young Scholars Program , a summer program administered by the IUPUI School of Education. The Young Scholars Programs offer various educational opportunities for children in grades 1-12.

  • http://www.engr.iupui.edu/~conrad/Lego