“Heat Transfer” Traveling Engineering Activity Kit: Designed by Engineering Students for Middle School Students

A 2005–06 Multidisciplinary Senior Design team created a series of classroom activities designed to teach middle school students about engineering topics related to energy and the environment. This Traveling Engineering Activity Kit (TEAK) consists of five smaller kits, each based on a different energy-related theme: Heat Transfer, Electrical Energy, Wind and Water, Solar Power, and Chemical Energy. Each kit contains an Academic Activity to teach a background concept, a Hands-On Activity to allow students to apply the concepts learned, and a Take-Home Activity that can be done independently at home. The design team also developed instruction manuals suitable for non-engineers, lesson plans, handouts, and post-activity quizzes to assess participants’ learning. To date, the kits have been used by several hundred middle school students either in their classroom setting or while participating in on-campus outreach programs. This paper highlights the Heat Transfer TEAK including an overview of the intended learning outcomes; physical materials and set-ups included within the interactive kit; as well as details related to the development of the kit by a multi-disciplinary team of senior engineering students. Program and kit assessment progress is discussed based on feedback from design team members; middle school students and teachers. Future plans for refining current kits and expanding kit offerings are also discussed.