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Need ideas for RV kid presentation.

AX-O

AX-O

Well Known Member
All,
I am doing a 15 minute presentation for about 110 kids ranging from 6 to 8th grade. The program is called Young Engineers and Scientists (YES) http://yesridgecrest.com/. This particular workshop is for boys only (they have one for girls during a different time). The kids come from as far as 150 miles away. There will be 3 ?Gadget guys? presenting topics related to the importance of math and science. The kids will build rockets, robots and make slime during the workshops. 2 years ago I talked about conducting flight test. This year I am talking about building the RV.

I am looking for some KEY messages that I can pass to the kids regarding the importance of math and science and how it relates to building an aircraft. If you have a few minutes and would like to share your 2 cents, I would be grateful and I am sure the kids will benefit.

BTW, I was going to bring my aircraft and use it as a display but was advice not to do that due to risks. Thanks for the help.
 
Suggestions

Axel,

It's great that you're participating and helping encourage kids to get into aviation. I would suggest you talk about the following, taking the kids on discussion from early flight to future flight talking about the following:

1) Accurate measurements, weight&balance, fuel calcs = Math
2) Structural design of aircraft, aerodynamics = Physics
3) Comm, Nav, Antennas, Electromagnetic waves = Physics
4) Corrosion, Combustion = Chemistry
5) Surface Navigation = Geography, Geology
6) Weather = Meteorology
7) Old School-New School Tie-in of Celestial Navigation = Astronomy

What can I say, my mom and my grandmom were both teachers.:D Good Luck!
 
Discuss torque values of fasteners.
-What torque is.
-How it is measured.
-Why it is important to measure it.
-etc.


It is not clearly understood by a large portion of people, and it is applicable to just about anything mechanical they will be exposed to in their carrier future.
 
Rivets YES!

Demonstrate riveting.
-History of riveting. Ships, WWII aircraft, racing cars, RV aircraft.
-Types of rivets.
-Process of riveting. Drilling, countersinking/dimpling, deburring, squeezing/bucking, etc.
-Numbering system for rivets.
-Strength of riveted joints.

That should take at least 15 minutes. You should allow adequate time for questions/interaction.

P.S. after reading the other posts I think riveting would be a boring subject!!:eek:
 
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AOPA has teacher info

I would like to suggest some of the AOPA teacher material.

http://www.aopa.org/path/modules.html

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...8FqBz9ekH68oNZFQA&sig2=W8sYT8n4MOyQMbYaSzjL0Q

The State of Wisconsin has some material that you can send for but there may not be enough time.

I also would be that EAA also has material to get kids interested in aviation.

Thanks for taking the time to get kids involved. We need to increase the pilot population else we are going to price ourselves out of our most enjoyable hobby.
 
Simple weight and balance

Simple mix of math to find or correct for a balance point. Impressing large moment numbers back down to simple weights and distance
 
NASA Resources for Student Education

Here's a link to some NASA videos for demonstrating the importance of mathematics to 6th-8th grade students.

Here's another on NASA resources for Grades 5-8.

I used to teach a class on Aeronautics for Educators of K-8 grades using the NASA Aeronautics guidebook for educators. I also used to re-enact the role of Wilbur Wright during the 2002-2003 year in classrooms.

Even if you don't used these resources perhaps they will be valuable for you and others for other sessions with students.

Good fortune!
 
Hello Axel,

I imagine they will want to know what it takes to become a Pilot ? For a handout, you could print the table of contents of your favorite Ground School Syllabus, and as others have suggested, quickly point out how Math and Science is involved in each subject.

Might impress on them that their Math and Science study is a very good educational foundation for any future undertaking. And that while they are building this foundation, equally important is that they are Learning How to Learn, that by exercising their young analytical minds they will be able to come up to speed quickly in whatever they chose to do in life.

Learning how to solve complex problems by breaking them down in to their more simple constituent parts is key….. e.g. Completing the Sub Kits of your RV Project ends up producing a Magnificent Flying Machine !

You’ll want to hand out a Van’s Finder Fee form because a few of these kids will be future builders for sure !

Good Luck
pk
 
Hey Axel,

A mate of mine who is building an RV-7 was asked to do this - he took a part from the aeroplane in - it might have been the rudder or an aileron and had them try to figure out what the part was, where it fit, and how it did what it was supposed to do.

The elements of science should not be difficult to find. Why is it so light? How come it is so strong? Why are some parts steel others not?

I thought that was a pretty good approach. It would have been pretty engaging, it would have got my attention even now.
 
Simple Aerodynamics - what makes a plane fly...

...and then demonstrate - along with a kid volunteer - with some cheap balsa chuck gliders.
 
I Beg to differ

Axel,

You have a great opportunity here! Don't waste it with all facts and figures. Think about your age group, and what they will retain. Building an airplane is an amazing journey, one they really believe they could never do. I have watched that idea melt away two times now, with two different groups. Make them WANT to build one, not just know how it is done! Stressing that it takes math and science (without going into time-consuming detail) may be all that you need to make your point.

I would assume you will have a projector. If so, I can give you pictures of kids, not much older than themselves, doing that very thing. The looks on their faces would be contagious. Stress satisfaction over statistics. 15 minutes isn't a lot of time, but plenty considering the attention span of your audience. "Cool factor" is important to retention with a young crowd. Think along those lines and you will not only inform them, but inspire them. Let me know if I can be of help, just PM me. When is this, BTW?

Bob
 
After you make the presentation, tell us how it went. I really enjoy going into schools and talking to the students about aviation, NASA, airplanes, etc. I'm sure you're gonna have a good experience. :)
 
Torque

rvbuilder2002 said:
Discuss torque values of fasteners.
-What torque is.
-How it is measured.
-Why it is important to measure it.
-etc.


It is not clearly understood by a large portion of people, and it is applicable to just about anything mechanical they will be exposed to in their carrier future.
Click to expand...

Just got out of my Senior Physics class and we finished a section on torque! It would be a good topic to cover! (You could probably teach it better than my teacher :mad:)
 
Seize the opportunity

Before your presentation, you should reach out to your local EAA chapter(s) and see if they support the Young Eagles program.

15 minutes isn't very long to talk, so I'd cover some very basic stuff and then I'd make sure I drove these two points home.

1) "We didn't have more time, but I encourage you to come to an EAA meeting to begin learning more and getting exposed to all aspects of aviation."

2) "If you're interested in experiencing flight, then contact XXX@yourEAAchapter to setup a young eagles flight. Or come to XYZ airport on Saturday the 21st and get signed up there."


It's a great opportunity to have a positive influence on several kids. The most important thing isn't the knowledge you share with them in 15 quick minutes. The most important thing is the clear path forward that you show them, then encourage them to take it.


Phil
 
Wow!

Phil said:
The most important thing isn't the knowledge you share with them in 15 quick minutes. The most important thing is the clear path forward that you show them, then encourage them to take it.
Click to expand...

Wow, what a powerful message this is!
 
Seesaw.

Axel, I took a piece of pipe and a 6 foot 2 X 6 with me. I talked briefly about weight and balance and the importance of CG. Then I asked a young girl, about 75 lbs. and another much bigger guy, around 170 Lbs. to also step up.

Then I showed them how to calculate where the balance point will be if she stands on one end and he on the other, on the seesaw I made by laying the 2 X 6 on the pipe as the fulcrum.

Best,
 
MATH!

pierre smith said:
Then I showed them how to calculate where the balance point will be if she stands on one end and he on the other, on the seesaw I made by laying the 2 X 6 on the pipe as the fulcrum.

Best,
Click to expand...

Pierre, thats math - who wants to learn math!! Actually, that is a great idea. If you had a model of a plane, you could show why the CG matters.
 
Bob Kuykendall said:
Axel,

Here is a .pdf file containing the presentation I used to give at our local middle school back before they cut funding to the GATE program:

http://hpaircraft.com/gate/Aeronautics3.pdf

Feel free to use any or all of it. Just credit me on an acknowledgment page or something like.

Thanks, Bob K.
Click to expand...

Bob

Can you send me the soft copy of this? I too am putting together a slide show for GATE. There are a couple of your slides that I'd like to use with some mods.

I'm struggling with the explanation of lift. I too was told its all about fast moving air over the top of the wing but NASA, Stick and Rudder, and others say that's not the case. It's all about Newton.

I think I will present both theories.

Thanks.
 
This presentation was originally done in CorelDraw, so the source files are in .cdr format. If you don't have CorelDraw, your best bet is to load the .pdf into Adobe Illustrator and edit it with that.

I stayed as far away as practical from any detailed explanation of where lift comes from; that is too complicated and also too boring for the target audience. But I did put this preso together with Steve Smith's help, and what with him holding a Phd in aeronautic engineering (and working at NASA), I figured it would go.

Fast air moving over the top is how lift works. The only objection I know of is to the mistaken idea that air molecules going over the top arrive at the trailing edge at the same time as air molecules move under the bottom. That idea is bogus. I have no idea where it came from, probably from some unclear-on-the-concept textbook illustrator. The different sets of air molecules cannot and do not arrive at the trailing edge at the same time. But that does not mean that the air going over the top doesn't go faster than the air under the bottom. It does, and that is how a wing makes lift.

One of the main points of my presentation is that, regardless of where lift comes from, it doesn't take very much of it to lift an airplane.

Thanks, Bob K.

ArVeeNiner said:
Bob

Can you send me the soft copy of this? I too am putting together a slide show for GATE. There are a couple of your slides that I'd like to use with some mods.

I'm struggling with the explanation of lift. I too was told its all about fast moving air over the top of the wing but NASA, Stick and Rudder, and others say that's not the case. It's all about Newton.

I think I will present both theories.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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