Students Learn Tech in Motion

By Andrea Iglar

The new elective class Technology in Motion at South Fayette Middle School in Pittsburgh is instructing 10- and 11-year-old students about various elements of engineering. Technology education teacher Frank Kruth established the hands-on course to show fifth-graders high-level science and math ideas and allow them to put the concepts into action by designing, building, and optimizing the performance of tiny airplanes, automobiles, and sailboats. Kruth explained he devised the course from a fundamental curriculum created by the Society of Automotive Engineers. The class fosters critical thinking and forms the foundation for regular scholastic material by getting students to use a combination of science, technology, engineering, and math theories. Around 140 students will enroll in the course during the school year. Fifth-graders can choose to take it on top of their mandated technology education class. Although the students sometimes utilize traditional hand tools to make something, they also employ laptops to program robotic arms, providing them with an idea of modern-day production tasks. "If we would have learned these things when we were younger, I think we'd be better off," Kruth notes.

December 11, 2008