ADA, Ohio (WLIO) – Ohio Northern University engineering faculty and students gave middle schoolers from Heir Force Community School a challenge: use specific materials to build a structure with crumple zones to protect a grape from being crushed, much like engineers design vehicles to protect passengers. The students embraced the hands-on lesson.
“That you get to create, I thought it was cool that I kind of felt like I was an engineer,” said Elisha Cage, a sixth grader at Heir Force Community School.
Thanks to support from the PPG Foundation, Heir Force is one of eight schools that gets to spend a day at Ohio Northern’s College of Engineering with a variety of activities. The university hopes the interaction helps spark student interest in the field.
“You know, our region has a huge demand for technical talent, and engineering in particular, so we want to do everything we can to get young people excited about careers in these fields. It's nothing better than seeing a bunch of smiling kids excited about the things that STEM can do,” said Dr. John-David Yoder, dean of the College of Engineering.
This is the fourth year Heir Force students have taken the field trip to Ohio Northern for hands-on learning. In addition to learning about crumple zones, students also designed hoverboards and explored cybersecurity.
Beyond engineering and science, the day also emphasized an important lesson in problem-solving.
This is the fourth year Heir Force students have taken the field trip to Ohio Northern for hands-on learning
“It's taking real life problems and coming up with real solutions, and in that solution process, you learn through failure, but just to see the excitement of the children, to see them working collaboratively together, to see them excited about not only their failures, but their accomplishments. You know it's awesome to see," said Dr. Willie Heggins, executive director of Heir Force Community School.
