Summer SAVY, Session 2 Day 1, Biomedical Engineering (1st-2nd)
Happy Monday, and welcome to Biomedical Engineering! Our class is off to a great start. We had a wonderful day getting to know each other and diving into the world of technology, engineering, and design. This morning, we explored what technology is and discovered that it is all around us. Technology can be almost anything from a toothbrush to a shoe, nail clippers, or even our pencil. We learned that biomedical engineers design technologies that solve problems related to the human body and medicine, and that the parts of the knee serve specific functions that allow the knee joint to move. Bones, ligaments, joints, and tendons work together to get our knees moving. We explored examples of technology and decided that knee braces are an example of technology, too!
This afternoon, we discovered our challenge for the week:
“Oh, no! Biomedical engineers need your help in designing and creating a functional knee brace to help Matthias’ hurt knee. The biomedical engineers have had several meetings to decide how to design the brace, but everyone seems to have different ideas about the material it should be made from, what shape it should have, and what special features would be important. The adults cannot seem to agree on a design, so now the engineers have decided to ask you for your ideas!”
Finally, we discussed that the Engineering Design Process is a series of steps that can be used to solve problems. Ask your child about the story called Erik’s Unexpected Twist and how he and his fellow campers worked through the steps of the engineering design process to help out their friend, Matthias!
Tonight at dinner, consider asking your child to identify a technology found around the house ask the following questions:
- How do you know that it’s a piece of technology?
- Is the object naturally made? Man-made?
- What material is it made of?
- What problem does it solve?
- How else could you use it?
- What other materials could it be made of?
- Who creates these technologies?
- Why was this technology created?
- What problems need solutions around your house, and what can you design to solve that problem or help make life easier?
See you tomorrow!
Warmly,
Ms. Courtney & Ms.Sharon