Welcome to the Engineering Club!.

2009-2010 Engineering Club clickHERE to
go to the NEW site!

Our club participated in the Maryland Engineering Challenges last Saturday April 18, 2009. The team of 8th graders, Daniel K. and Connor O. and Josh B. 6th grade, were awarded third place in the Eco - Challenge competition. The "HMS Engineering" group finished first in the performance of their wind turbine with an output of over 2 volts DC. They lost points in the written report and interview sections of the competition.

Congratulations to our sixth grade team for their participation as well.

We will explore various activities including: robotics, CAD, and energy.
Students will be given an application at the first meeting.

Students will be organized into teams to represent Hereford in the "Engineering Challenges" held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Possible challenges include - cargo airplane, hovercraft, and eco challenge

Students who join would also be expected to help improve the Hereford environment.

The club meets in Mrs. Barr's room E-7 from 2:05-3:00 on Tuesdays.
The club will begin soon. Listen to announcements in the morning and check back to this webpage often.

Engineering club Resources-

Official Engineering Challenges site - clickHERE

ROBOTICS LINKS-

Site where you can drive a robotic vehicle on the computer screen cl

clickHERE

LEGO links site - http://www.cs.uu.nl/~markov/lego/links/index.html

Boe Bot site -

http://www.parallax.com/tabid/229/Default.aspx

vex kits

http://www.robotc.net/ifi/quickstart/ifi_quickstart.htm#

http://robomatter.com/index.html

Eco - Challenge

Brief Explanation of the Engineering Challenge that we will participate in:

The Challenge:
Design and construct a model wind turbine electrical generation system to power a schematic model of school classroom spaces and complete an environmental study on the team’s school site for positioning the tower and wind turbine system. The schematic 10-classroom portion of the school lighting system will include a single 2 VDC LED in each identified classroom space. The 10 LEDs will be powered by the wind turbine in a parallel circuit configuration.

Engineering Team Requirement:
Teams will have a minimum of two students and a maximum of eight. A school may enter as many teams as desired.

Design and Construction Standards:
Students will design a wind turbine generator that will provide sufficient electricity to light a group of 10 LEDs and complete a scientific study of a suitable site for the system.

Wind Farming Resources

U.S. Department of Energy- Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
US Department of Energy presents information about how wind energy works, what to consider if you want to use wind power at home, and the latest in research and development.
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/wind_technologies.html

This lesson is designed for physical science, earth science, or environmental science classrooms, grades 9-12. Middle school science teachers may also find this lesson helpful. http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/wind.html

Research Projects for Renewable Resources
National Renewable Energy Laboratory Education Programs presents labs that can help students understand solar and wind power.
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30926.pdf

USA Today
Understanding winds and jet streams. USA Today describes different kinds of wind and jet streams.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wwind0.htm

Comparative Air Emissions of Wind and Other Fuels
The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has developed a set of statistics to quantify the comparative emissions of wind
and other fuels, based on data gathered by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA)[1], which
collects information on the U.S. utility industry.
http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/EmissionKB.PDF

Energy Education for the 21st Century
Interview with a construction worker on how that foundation of a wind turbine is made
http://www.pspb.org/e21/media/BCWF_Foundation.mov

The Story of Energy
"Introduction
Chapter 1: Energy - What Is It?
Chapter 2: Electricity...
...Chapter 16: Wind Energy
Chapter 17: Renewable vs. Nonrenewable - Environment & Air Quality
Chapter 18: Energy for Transportation
Chapter 19: Saving Energy and Energy Efficiency..."
http://www.energyquest.ca.gov/story/index.html

How Stuff Works: Wind Turbines
How Stuff Works is a great site for figuring out how stuff works! This website describes the parts and concepts behind wind power.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/wind-power.htm

Kid Wind
The KidWind Project is a team of teachers, students, engineers and practitioners exploring the science behind wind energy in classrooms around the US. Our goal is to introduce as many people as possible to the elegance of wind power through hands-on science activities which are challenging, engaging and teach basic science principles.
http://www.kidwind.org/

Hover Craft

more coming soon

Cargo Airplane

more coming soon

Sketchup- our club will investigate the free google program called Sketchup.

Sketchup - to download for free! click>>>HERE

Sketchup Warehouse click>>>HERE
You can find all kinds of designs to download free

Google 3D Model Map click>>> HERE
See the most recent, popular and highly rated 3D models from around the globe.

Google Support click>>> HERE

To get started fast, view the Google SketchUp tutorials:

1. Video tutorials.
In Google SketchUp open the "Help" menu, and then click "View Tutorials"*.
Self-paced tutorials. In Google SketchUp open the "Help" menu, point to "Self-Paced Tutorials," and then click "Part 1" to get started. These tutorials run in SketchUp and invite you to try the things you are learning.

The Instructor
To find out what all the tools do, click each tool's button. Information about the selected tool is displayed in the Instructor. If you don't see the Instructor, open the "Window" menu, and then click "Instructor." You can also refer to the Google SketchUp Quick Reference card: open the "Help" menu, and then click "Quick Reference."