BY Rebecca Solway
West Tisbury School
Project Description
Handheld Rotary Tool Kits will serve to provide a safe, multiple use tool that a wide age range of students can use in the STEM/Engineering Lab. During the past two years, the West Tisbury School has worked to shift from an Industrial Technology program focused on shop tools and skills, to a more modern and relevant Engineering program that better meets the current Massachusetts Technology and Engineering Curriculum Standards. Students use the Engineering Design Process to identify relevant problems, ask questions and create prototypes of inventions and designs. These tools would be used in projects such as: creating scale models of Tiny Houses as students research solutions to the island’s housing situation, crafting aerodynamic CO2 powered Dragster cars, building working prototypes of adaptive sports devices and much more.
How will the project be evaluated (e.g. how will you gauge its success)
A goal of the Engineering and Design program is that every student graduate with basic skills in use of hand tools they will need to use in high school or college engineering/fabrication classes, at home and in future careers.
Benefit to the students and the school
In the classroom, success will be seen in the refinement and higher quality of products that students will create. We currently have one of these tools and students who use it demonstrate confidence and pride in the work they create with it. Use of effective, efficient tools such as these serves to increase student engagement in the program.
Timeline of Project (when will you do the project, if applicable)
On-going