We have a High school engineering club and I am putting together three "tool kits" to be used by the club. I have $500.00 per kit to spend. The goal of the club is to introduce students to all branches of engineering so the supplies should be general / diverse. I need ideas on what to include in the kit. We are thinking a multimeter, solar cells, wire, a small pump, hand tools. Any other ideas on what I should include?
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What do I include in a High School Engineering Tool Kit 5
- Thread starter jpandf
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Sadly, I'll admit the 1st thing I'd look into is if there are any regulatory/health and safety/OSHA... rules or regs on what they can or can't be given.
When you say tool kits, it seems you mean just not the tools but also basic supplies for doing experiments?
For electrical I'd throw in some bulbs, led's, maybe even capacitors, solenoids, motors etc. We used to have some 'modular' bits and pieces that you could build circuits with then pull apart.
For mechanical, as well as a bunch of fasteners how about something like a mecano/erector set kit with gear, pulleys...
Make sure and include appropriate metrology equipment, a good steel rule, tape measure, calipers (real Verniers maybe without the digital read out just to make them think), Micrometer, level, feeler gauges... Your budget may not extend to all of these but depending what kind of projects they'll be doing and what they already have available in the physics room... you can down select.
When you say tool kits, it seems you mean just not the tools but also basic supplies for doing experiments?
For electrical I'd throw in some bulbs, led's, maybe even capacitors, solenoids, motors etc. We used to have some 'modular' bits and pieces that you could build circuits with then pull apart.
For mechanical, as well as a bunch of fasteners how about something like a mecano/erector set kit with gear, pulleys...
Make sure and include appropriate metrology equipment, a good steel rule, tape measure, calipers (real Verniers maybe without the digital read out just to make them think), Micrometer, level, feeler gauges... Your budget may not extend to all of these but depending what kind of projects they'll be doing and what they already have available in the physics room... you can down select.
Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484
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And maybe you can pick up some of the stuff as "contributions" from companies with a civic sense (promise a newsletter with credits that the students can write up... a monthly update on projects, skills learned, etc.)
JMW
JMW
- Thread starter
- #4
Well, I vaguely recall a fad of folks at school building 'hands' (or at least the 'bones') out of technic Lego, adding some string ligaments and putting a glove on them.
So from the point of artificial limbs you could to crazy with various linkages etc. Playing around with some pneumatics & hydraulics could be cool too. Again technic lego used to have that, and now they have robots too.
So from the point of artificial limbs you could to crazy with various linkages etc. Playing around with some pneumatics & hydraulics could be cool too. Again technic lego used to have that, and now they have robots too.
Posting guidelines faq731-376 (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484
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- #6
How about an Arduino board , a mini breadboard, and a selection of wires and components like LEDs, buzzers, resistors, capacitors, etc.
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I like jhardy1's suggestion of the Arduino.
I used it a few times before. The first time I built an autonomus mobile robot. Was lots of fun!
Don't forget
Or how about a model of an IC engine. Or a model of a DC motor....
I can think of tons of engineering related things that would be great.
You could also consider stopping by a lotal hobby shop..
![[peace]](/data/assets/smilies/peace.gif "[peace] [peace]")
Fe
I used it a few times before. The first time I built an autonomus mobile robot. Was lots of fun!
Don't forget
Or how about a model of an IC engine. Or a model of a DC motor....
I can think of tons of engineering related things that would be great.
You could also consider stopping by a lotal hobby shop..
Fe
msquared48
Structural
How about a hand held calculator - kinda common across the board for Engineering...
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
Biomedical engineering? get a copy of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's excellent treatise on the subject, still considered one of the most authoritative works.
JMW
JMW
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I think the electrical/electronic work would be greatly enhanced by some ability for control and/or data acquisition. Arduino sounds like a great option. You might also consider a Labview education kit:
Add in some thermocouples, accelerometers, relays, etc. and you can accomplish a lot both in terms of electronics and in terms of expanding on mechanical/physical experiments through data acquisition and analysis.
On the mechanical side, consider a vacuum pump or vacuum generator if you have access to compressed air. With some plastic sheet, tape, and creativity you can use that to do composite layup work or form wood/plastic sheets over molds.
Add in some thermocouples, accelerometers, relays, etc. and you can accomplish a lot both in terms of electronics and in terms of expanding on mechanical/physical experiments through data acquisition and analysis.
On the mechanical side, consider a vacuum pump or vacuum generator if you have access to compressed air. With some plastic sheet, tape, and creativity you can use that to do composite layup work or form wood/plastic sheets over molds.
I see lots of emphasis on old school / analog / traditional engineering and drafting tools. While that's great stuff to learn, I have a hard time imagining high school kids getting excited and/or joining a club which furnishes drafting sets and hand tools (although I do recall haveing a plastic drafting board in elementary school). Am I off base?
Question for the OP... Can you give a little more detail on what sorts of things the club does; where they take direction from or what they're working towards?
Question for the OP... Can you give a little more detail on what sorts of things the club does; where they take direction from or what they're working towards?
ornerynorsk
Industrial
Thermite!
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
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