BROOKLYN — Teenagers nowadays,
says Devora Geller, a physics teacher at the New York Museum
School in Manhattan, are surrounded by technology — cell
phones, computers, CD and DVD players, and more.
But when they go to school and attend science classes, he
says, they frequently are taught the same way they would have
been taught 100 years ago. Clearly, a new type of technology
is needed to make kids’ science lessons fun.
That’s why Polytechnic University is now hosting, with
funding from the National Science Foundation, the Science and
Mechatronics Aided Research for Teachers (SMART) Program, to
help teachers from public high schools learn more about
robotics, mechatronics and related disciplines. It is presided
over by Prof. Vikram Kapila, Associate Professor of Mechanical
Engineering at Polytechnic.
The teachers, in turn, will be able to impart what they
have learned to the students, come the fall.
Some of the robots used as examples and teaching tools were
on display last week when this reporter visited. One, a robot
with the face of a cat taped onto its front, had tactile
sensors in its “whiskers.” If someone or something brushed
against them, the “cat” walked the other way.
This technology, said Prof. Kapila, can be used in warfare,
when military vehicles have to maneuver in the dead of night.
A similar robot using auditory sensors was also on display —
if someone speaks loudly or snaps his or her fingers next to
its “ears” (actually paper cups), the robot will move to avoid
the sound.
One interesting example of high tech, invented last year by
a teacher from Midwood High School who took the seminar,
demonstrates the Law of Projectile Motion. A miniature golf
cart, with a launcher for a tiny ball, is preprogrammed for
distance and trajectory of the angle. Then, it is rolled that
precise distance from a Velcro pad. When the ball is launched,
it should hit the pad squarely — and usually does.
Yet another device makes use of a slot-car track, but with
a speed limit programmed in and speed sensors on the track. If
the cars exceed the speed limit, the sensors pick it up and
the controller slows them down.
Teachers who are taking part in the SMART seminar come not
only from the five boroughs, but also such nearby locations as
Rockland and Westchester Counties.
One teacher, Lennox Henry, who teaches earth science, says
he was here to learn more about using microprocessors,
programming languages and robotics. Ms. Geller, the
aforementioned physics teacher, said the school is starting a
new elective applied robotics and programming.
Not only do the teachers use these techniques in their
classes during the year, some engage in fund-raising for the
SMART program. One teacher at Midwood, says Kapila, raised
$300,000, although smaller amounts are more typical.
The idea of fund-raising by teachers may sound unusual,
except when one considers the amount of budget cutbacks and
lack of sufficient funding for city schools in today’s world.
With the SMART program, says Prof. Kapila, “Science labs
can become fun.”
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©
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
2004
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