Presentation of Experiments for High School Students with Civil Engineering Related Interests

Abstract

In February of 1999, the National Science Foundation developed a $7.5 million program to provide graduate and undergraduate students with the opportunity to serve as teaching fellows and academic resources in kindergarten through grade twelve in the fields of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. This program enabled university students to introduce new concepts to address science, mathematics, engineering and technology weaknesses found in many of the nation's schools. Efforts at the University of Kansas were modeled after similar programs, in which graduate students are used to promote science and technology. This report describes six experiments dealing with civil engineering materials and structures. Each of the experiments includes worksheets for the student and the instructor. The worksheets provide background information, an explanation of the processes followed to develop the experiment, a summary of the necessary materials, and a review section including discussion questions or a calculation worksheet. The worksheet for the instructor also provides scheduling recommendations and solutions to questions in the review section.