Transforming My Lab

Activity Search

Where to begin?

Searching for the word “fun” returned over one hundred results, but almost all of the returns were “fun” as part of the words “function” or “fundamental”. And at the time, “covid” and “coronavirus” returned no results, although that has since changed. 

But the keyword laboratory provided hundreds of returns, one of which caught my eye as I had met the first author listed on the card, Heather Dillon, at a KEEN workshop in 2019. Their card described in-person lab experiments about wave energy research and the entrepreneurial mindset. Completely unrelated to what I was trying to do, but very interesting! As I read, I found my curiosity, creativity, and confidence coming back to me.

Then I found a card by Ranen McLanahan that described how heat transfer can be taught as an ongoing story in which students must survive the depths of an Arctic Winter. Sure, it had nothing about materials properties, but could it be adapted to my course? Nothing came to mind, but I really enjoyed mulling it over.

Building the Idea

By the end of reading that heat transfer card, I had decided that my lab experiences would take the form of students replying to letters from a reclusive millionaire that wanted to erect a building in downtown Worcester. The plot would change each week as the millionaire encountered new challenges to his aspirations – and needed the team to provide new data. 

So the first lab would focus on student teams organizing themselves as a company, with a charter, positions, a logo, and so on. And I could adapt one assignment from the mix design portion of the American Concrete Institute’s textbook. But what else?

That’s when I stumbled across "Area 51 Artifacts" by Michael Lancia.

In this card, students have to identify unknown materials stolen from Area 51 solely by using material property data. Of course! This would work perfectly! Aliens in Worcester might be a bit of a stretch, but instead I could have my eccentric millionaire ask students to select the best aggregate for concrete based solely on the information provided by five corporations. 

And I can cultivate their entrepreneurial mindsets by ensuring there’s no clear-cut, correct answer by asking, "How do you balance the different prices, environmental impacts, and performance of the five aggregate options?" If your students are like mine, questions with ambiguous answers may heartily annoy them, but get them thinking more deeply.

Later in the term, after discussing wood, plastic, and metals, the millionaire could assign each team a material, and tell them they can ask about any three material properties they want. Excellent! The Area 51 Card was an inspiration from which the lab activities basically appeared fully formed - I would have to come up with my own list of materials and associate material properties, but the mechanics of how to implement the activity were quite clear.