Connellsville Junior High science and gifted teacher Jace McClean said the best way to learn is to work on projects that are hands-on and interesting.
“In order to learn about science, you have to experience science, and the best way to do that is with hands-on activities,” McClean said.
McClean brought four of his students to the first Williams Fluid Power Challenge, a competition sponsored by the Fayette Business Education Partnership, that welcomed 50 middle-school students from around Fayette County who learned about fluid power technology, hydraulics and pneumatics.
The students worked in teams of four and built a fluid power mechanism with real-world applicability, which was a lift.
“This is an exciting event for us,” Fayette Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Muriel Nuttall said of the program designed to introduce students and teachers to the world of engineering and fluid power careers. “This is the first of its kind in Fayette County and only the second in Southwestern Pennsylvania that has been offered. Our goal is to create programs to make sure that we have successful kids.”
All teams were given materials and instructions to build their own lift, which would be used to move objects.
The idea of the workshop was to teach the students about fluid power by assembling the simple lift.
All teams that participated will now work on their own projects, in which they will build a fluid power mechanism of their own design that picks an object from one platform, rotates and places it on another.
In addition to the number of pick-and-place cycles a school's machine completes, a review of each team's design approach, teamwork and portfolio will be used in the final evaluation.
“The students will now go back to their schools and develop their own devices,” Nuttall said. “Then they will come back here, and in front of a panel of judges, they will present their design portfolio, and be interviewed.”
Connellsville Junior High student Kendal McCutcheon said she was enjoying the project and looks forward to the group creating their own design.
“I think that this is great,” McCutcheon said. “This was a little confusing at first, but we're getting it.”
“It's a learning process,” Jared Kinneer, 12, of Connellsville said. “It's been fun though.”
Williams, a natural gas infrastructure company, plans on hosting programs geared toward middle-school students after realizing there were not many STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs available to students of that age.
“Williams sponsored this same program last year in Allegheny County,” Williams local outreach partner Leigh McIntosh said. “We were overwhelmed by the positive feedback received from the students, teachers and volunteers involved, and went back to the organizers and suggested expanding this program across the Pittsburgh region, starting with Fayette County.”
Students will have six weeks to prepare for the Challenge Day, which will be held April 17 at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
“I'm really excited about this,” Nuttall said. “I can't wait to see what all the students come up with. I am looking forward to seeing their levels of creativity. I'm really very proud of all of them.”
Students from Connellsville, Laurel Highlands, Albert Gallatin, Brownsville, Frazier and Uniontown participated in the workshop.
The winning team will receive a traveling trophy that will then be awarded annually to the top-scoring group.
Marilyn Forbes is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.
