Workshops
Below is a list of workshops often used in the program.
Cantilever Challenge
Students will use a variety of materials to design and build a cantilever beam. Their challenge is to design and build the longest overhanging structure which supports a 100 gram mass suspended at the far end.
Chocolate Asphalt
The process of making asphalt cookies parallels the procedures used to produce asphalt pavements. During this workshop the similarities between using a hot liquid added to a variety of dry ingredients that are mixed together, cools, hardens, and gains strength, just like the asphalt process, only this type is edible.
Rocket Car
Explore the principles of aerodynamics and Newton’s laws of motion. Students will construct a balloon powered rocket car from simple materials. They will test their design and compete in the UConn 500.
Gack and Diapers
Students will explore the chemistry of polymer science. You will reverse engineer a diaper and then cross-link a polymer and observe the changes in the physical properties as a result of this cross-linking.
Code a Rocket Launch
Students will learn how to code variables, user inputs, and conditional statements to hypothetically launch a rocket. They will also decrypt a secret message that is written in binary code.
Shocking Lemons
Students will string together a number of lemons with wire and see the shocking results! In this workshop, students will construct simple galvanic cells using lemons, copper, zinc and aluminum electrodes. Basic electronic principles will be introduced; batteries, light emitting diodes (LEDs), series and parallel circuits, volts, amperes, and much more.
Robotic Hand
Students will build a robotic hand from common materials such as drinking straws, plywood string, and hose washers. This process relates to the similar problem solving that biomedical engineers engage in while creating prosthetic devices. Their objective is to build a hand that can hold a ping pong ball.
Just Keep Swimming
Take a swim with us to the Gulf Coast to learn about the oil spill! Students will learn about the effects of the spill on the environment and why it was so hard to recover from this disaster. (Warning: Rubber ducks will be included).
Strawberry DNA
Students will learn procedures to extract the DNA of strawberries. They will take a close look at how DNA can be extracted from fruit to become biochemical engineers for the day!
Electricity and Magnetism
Come discover if electricity and magnetism are related. This workshop will have the participants replicate Hans Oersted’s famous discovery of 1820 and then build a working electric motor. Lenz’s Law along with a number of other E&M activities are demonstrated.
Material Science and Engineering
This workshop explores what happens to materials when temperature is changed. You will see what happens when different materials are frozen to almost 200oF below freezing as well as other materials at extremely high temperatures. You’ll also get to play with a superconductor, see what a shape memory alloy is, and get to eat frozen marshmallows!
Harness the Wind
What does “Going Green” really mean and what can we do about it? Learn about the importance of wind power and what it can actually do. In this workshop each student will create a turbine blade and make their own “windmill”. All wind turbines will be tested for performance to determine how much energy it can actually convert!
Next Dimension
Students will learn that 3D printing is the future of manufacturing! They will get to experience additive manufacturing while using hot glue to demonstrate 3D modelling software. The girls will get to take home their own hand made project!