“What are we doing today?” “Science!”
That was the question and the excited answer in some fourth and fifth grade classrooms at
Weston Middle School during a STEM Lab in March. Four classes of students worked on
biomedical engineering projects led by an employee from the Go Stem! Hub at Eastern Oregon
University and an employee from OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) in Portland.
At the beginning of the lab time, the leaders discussed with the students that engineers are
people who design and build things to solve problems and remake and remake those things
until they work. Biomedical engineering is solving problems to help make life healthier for living
organisms.
Then they introduced the project, which to was to make prosthetics for plastic sea creatures
who are missing a limb and cannot swim effectively. Students were encouraged to use the
process of Design, Build and Test. Materials available to build their artificial limbs included
plastic, foil, foam, popsicle sticks, straws, waterproof tape, dental floss and more.
Students created many different designs for the prosthetics for their plastic turtles, dolphins
and fish. After designing and building, they adhered the prosthetics and tested them by winding
the creatures up and letting them swim in large tubs filled with water. Much trial and error
ensued, with students using other materials and adapting their designs based on the
performance.
Fourth grade teachers Craig Angell and Brittany McGill encouraged students to think outside
the box and to keep trying new things during the project. “You can’t beat hands-on STEM
activities like this for getting students engaged,” McGill said.
