Project Description:
Version 3 of the UMD G.O.A.L (Get Outside And Learn) kits is aimed at presenting projectile motion and impulse momentum principles in a fun and approachable way for local middle and high schoolers. We are producing 750 of these outreach kits for this summer to give every student the opportunity to explore core physics concepts both in and outside the classroom, and encourage kids to take part in the engineering design process themselves! A large part of our project revolved around developing a design competition that will occur this summer to get students engaged in designing a "catching" device to control the landing of their projectiles. Throughout our project we revised and optimized previous semesters kit designs for manufacturing, QC, and assembly, and characterized our manufacturing techniques to ensure our kit would fit together properly regardless of inconsistencies in material thickness. We also received constant feedback from our local middle school teacher partner, her students, and kids who tested our kit at UMD outreach events while developing these kits, and we enjoyed being able to incorporate design ideas generated by our most important stakeholders into our final product which will be distributed to 750 Prince Georges county public school students.
