Daniel Blank, a returning CPEP student wrote, “So far, CPEP has been a rewarding experience for me. I would like to join mainly based upon my previous experience with the group. I have always had fun while learning and building in CPEP and the gratification I receive makes it worthwhile. CPEP allows me to better understand fields I am seriously considering for a career. In addition, ideas learned in CPEP have helped me throughout my years of math and science. It is one of the best clubs at school and it has always been a lot of fun.”
After 20 years of delivering extraordinary after-school experiences for under-represented youths, based upon the feedback from Daniel, it is encouraging to know that CPEP has remained true to its mission.
Launched in 1986, CPEP was designed and implemented to address the growing need to identify, inspire and ignite the desire of under-represented youths to pursue careers in Engineering. From our humble beginnings 20 years ago, operating from one school with 40 students, CPEP has grown to represent 11 school districts, 35 schools and directly touching the lives of over 800 students each year (the indirect impact is significantly greater). While our program expanded across the state, so too has our ambition and core focus. In order to better align our programs/curriculum with the ever-increasing need for the United States to build a robust pipeline of students pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, we have adopted a broader lens. We have moved from a primarily engineering focus to include the full breadth of STEM activities. Therefore, our experience has been more encompassing for our students and more appropriate for their success in the 21st Century.
Currently, the CPEP experience is inspiring students in the following towns:
Bloomfield, Bridgeport, Bristol, Danbury, Hartford, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, Stamford, and Waterbury
CPEP distinguishes itself from other after-school programs in its focus on designing and implementing extraordinary hands-on experiences that ignite the intellectual curiosity of our students. STEM related projects channel this intellectual curiosity into the potential pursuit of STEM related career choices. We believe that awakening a desire to learn is just as important as what is learned.
CPEP programs are built upon this simple equation:
Exposure – Research shows that the middle school years are a formative time in a young person’s life, according to EDC researcher Sarita Nair. “If young kids get turned on to STEM during these years they are more likely to choose the science and math electives in high school and college,” she says. “Conversely, if they don’t take the STEM classes in middle and high school, they effectively lock themselves out of STEM careers later on in life.” To that end, CPEP orchestrates meaningful classroom visits and field trips throughout Connecticut for our students. For example, CPEP leverages their partnerships with the following organizations to arrange in-school as well as on-site visits for students - The Department of Environmental Protection, Engineers Without Borders, The National Society of Black Engineers, The Travelers, Aerospace Component Manufacturers, local colleges and universities, The Mystic Aquarium, Sikorsky, Pratt and Whitney, The Department of Transportation, The Discovery Museum, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Klienfelder and local inventors. CPEP students meet professionals, in many cases who are from similar backgrounds, which provide honest, frank and inspiring dialog and exercises.
Appreciation - “Why do I need to do my math and science homework?” The perceived irrelevance of science and math often causes distress for students and parents. To help students make the connection between theory and application CPEP has designed a series of hands-on projects that introduce relevant science, math, engineering and technology concepts in the context of a real-world problem (students use the concepts to actually create a working model or prototype). Through project based learning, the students will begin to assign value to science and math; finally answering the age-old question about the relevance of math and science.
Threshold or Capstone Event – providing students with exposure and appreciation are designed to engender what David Perkins calls a “Threshold Experience”. Broadly stated, a threshold experience is one in which a significant paradigm shift occurs that serves as a gateway to pursue certain disciplines. To that end, CPEP carefully designed what’s called CPEP Day. This annual event allows the CPEP students to display their projects and compete against their peers around the state. CPEP Day is highly anticipated by our students. Not only can the CPEP students test their project designs but they also meet other likeminded students in an environment where they feel comfortable exercising all of their intellectual potential. CPEP Day activities will be held at The Connecticut Convention Center as part of the Connecticut Innovation Expo. The new venue will provide more opportunities for our students to meet other student who are participating in a variety of other STEM related middle and high school programs.
Inspiration – Inspiration can be defined as an arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity. By providing broad exposure through activities that connect theory and application coupled with a culminating “threshold experience” we will create an indelible imprint in student minds that leads to a focused and passionate pursuit of STEM learning. As stated by Oliver Wendell Holmes, “A mind once stretched, will never regain its original shape.” The CPEP Equation will inspire CPEP students to pursue 21st careers that they once thought unattainable or unimaginable.
The following represents the current and new CPEP projects. Each project is a pre-packaged kit that includes all relevant parts, instructions and goals for the exercise. The time to complete each project varies based upon the grade level and relative experience with the curriculum.
- Magnetic Levitation Vehicles: The maglev activity helps the students think like an engineer by designing new methods of moving people on trains using magnetism. The students are introduced to the application of math and science using rubber-band, electrical, gravity or wind powered maglev. This hands-on activity defines electromagnetism and explains its role in suspending and propelling a maglev train. Students are introduced to the concepts of acceleration, electromagnetism, and levitation.
- Battery Powered Boats: In the propeller boat activity students explore the principles of buoyancy, hull design, modeling and seaworthiness. Through research, design, testing and evaluation of a model propeller boat, students experience the practical application of mass, speed, and acceleration while applying the math and science necessary to build a model battery powered boat.
- Egg Drop: This activity allows the students to apply the basic principles of design, weight, velocity, momentum and gravity. The objective of the egg drop activity is to have the students design and build a package that will safely protect raw eggs when dropped from an elevation of approximately 20 feet.
- Rube Goldberg: The students are tasked with building a machine to complete the tasks specified by the challenge using as many steps as possible without a single failure, while making the machines themselves fit into certain themes.
- Mouse Trap Cars: A mouse trap car is a vehicle that is powered by the energy that can be stored in a wound up mouse-trap spring. The most basic design is as follows: a string is attached to a mouse trap’s lever arm and then the string is wound around a drive axle causing the drive axle and the wheels to rotate, propelling the vehicle.
- Roller Coaster Design: This is a physical science project which introduces students to the design considerations and science applications an engineer must know when designing a roller coaster. The students learn that the curves, dips, hills and loops are not randomly designed but follow simple rules of physics. As students construct their roller coaster, scientific theory comes "alive".
- Bridge Building Design: The students learn why some bridges are curved while others are straight. They come to realize that engineers must consider many things including the distance to be spanned and the types of materials available. Students study basic bridge design: Beam Bridges, Truss Bridges, Cantilever, Arch Bridges, Suspension Bridges and the forces that act upon them.
In our effort to continue the migration of our projects to a more appropriate 21st century platform, during 2009-2010, CPEP introduced the following projects to our portfolio:
Computer Game Design using SCRATCH from MIT - Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web. Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
Students are presented with a real-world challenge and are tasked with creating a computer game that helps create awareness and pose solutions. For example, students are asked to research a relevant sustainability challenge and create a computer game to help build awareness and new solutions.
See the following website for details: http://scratch.mit.edu/
Tabula Digita (Dimension M) – Tabula Digita is an educational gaming company focused on delivering innovative and effective educational games to students and institutions. The games have all of the action adventure fun associated with mainstream games while simultaneously providing an efficient learning environment to better prepare students for high stakes exams. CPEP will provide this as an offering for primarily 8th graders.
DimensionM™ is an immersive video game world that engages students in the instruction and learning of mathematics. Pre-algebra and algebra objectives are covered through a series of missions that bring math into a world that today's students understand. Students become so captivated in solving problems that they forget they're learning but they don't forget what they've learned. Research with the programs demonstrates how well they align with the way today's students learn and how naturally immersed students become in their learning. The result: increase in student motivation, increase in time on task, and the ability to apply their learning in real world situations that have meaning for your student.
See the following website for details - http://www.dimensionm.com/
First Lego League for middle school students
FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an exciting and fun global robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 14 (16 outside of the U.S. and Canada).
Each year FLL teams embark on an adventurous Challenge based on current, real-world issues. Guided by a team coach and assisted by mentors, the kids:
- Research and solve a real-world problem based on the Challenge theme
- Present their research and solutions
- Build an autonomous robot using engineering concepts
See the following website for details: http://www.usfirst.org/what/fll/default.aspx?id=390
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