Issue link: http://latinschool.uberflip.com/i/1054109
A C A D E M I C E X C E L L E N C E New to Latin in 2017, science teacher Wayne Wheatley was eager to incorporate engineering and technology into the seventh-grade science curriculum. Since the studies were primarily surrounding anatomy and biology, he needed to brainstorm ideas. "I was talking to a friend about it, and I jokingly said, 'Maybe I can have them make a robotic hand,'" Wheatley reflected. "A light bulb went off in my head as I thought, 'Wait, I think I could do that.'" As a result of the professional development opportunities and resources, his light bulb moment has became a reality. Wheatley joined the innovative project design committee and met with a small group of teachers once a month to plan out the details for the project. He also used project-based learning resources online and design thinking strategies to create this unit. After learning how the skeletal and muscular systems work together to create movement in the human body, seventh-grade students were given the challenge of creating a robotic version of a human hand. Using any materials that their group requested, they had three weeks to design, prototype, redesign and test out their hands before a panel of guest judges. Students were visited by prosthetists from Bionic Prosthetics & Orthotics and an orthopedic surgeon and video chatted with a biomedical engineer to get feedback and advice. They reflected on the design process, the valuable lessons they learned and the teamwork skills that were necessary in order to meet this challenge. The variety of hands that were created as a result ranged from simple cardboard replicas complete with stick-on fingernails to mechanical hands with servos and Arduino microprocessors. Wheatley's favorite part about the project was that students had complete freedom about the type of hand they built and the level of difficulty they wanted to make it. They were learning not only about muscles, tendons and bones, but also about how to use a drill, how to program a servo and how to learn from their mistakes in order to make a prototype better. Wheatley noted, "It's important for students to learn how to research and collaborate and solve problems faced in the real world." Your support brings light bulb moments (and robotic arms) to life I M PA C T Latin devotes more than $400,000 per year to faculty professional development. $ 400K Annual Report 2017–2018 11