Our school is in a semi-rural town with a beautiful river and bay that feed into the Gulf of Mexico. Of the 738 students at our school, 54% qualify for free or reduced lunch, yet 61% are proficient in Mathematics, 59% are proficient in Science, and 71% are proficient in Social Studies. Our students are capable and have families that care about the education and future of their children, they simply need opportunities and inspiration to succeed.
It is our goal to stimulate our students to look at manufacturing in a new way because our town's economic base is mostly service and retail jobs.
However, with two US Naval bases in our proximity and living within 40 miles to the coast and minutes to inland water, Maritime Manufacturing directly affects our students. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Naval Architects and Engineers jobs are projected to have a 12 percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026. This is significantly higher than the 7% average growth rate for all occupations and could greatly benefit our students and community.
My Project
Since robotics is a significant part of their future, students must learn to program and control robotics.
Through the lessons in Discover Education’s (DE) Manufacturing in the 21st Century, science students will understand and define manufacturing, as well as evaluate how and why manufacturing has changed over time.
In this lesson, the students will apply their knowledge to create a Sphero ball driven ship using aluminum foil, foam, tape, cardboard, and other miscellaneous materials, testing the ships for buoyancy, structural durability, and aerodynamics through a wave table and obstacle race.
Through the DE Career Guide and Self-Paced Module math students will explore their knowledge of manufacturing, an overview of the manufacturing industry, and a survey to identify their personal career interest areas and match them to manufacturing careers. Students will investigate the applications of 3D printing, robotics, and computers to discover how each of these technologies help teams of manufacturers solve complex problems that improve processes, products, and people’s lives. Students will then create a scale model of a ship design with a Sphero robot as the engine. The students will then race the created ships through an obstacle course to have first-hand experience controlling and programing robots. These activities, projects, and interactions are intended to inspire our students to consider how they could take part in the modern-day manufacturing process by showing:
• that manufacturing jobs are available to everyone in our community - the college and non-college seeking student;
• that manufacturing jobs are varied and encompass many interests, abilities, and passions;
• that manufacturing careers are locally available in Milton, Florida, Pensacola, Florida, and Mobile, Alabama;
• how manufacturing careers can be both fulfilling, easily-accessible, and profitable.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Wiscaver and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
