STEM Lab Success: 5th Graders Design & Build Prosthetic Arms
Recently, our 5th graders in Ms. Hyde's class at McKinley spent a week stepping into the shoes of biomedical engineers during an exciting hands-on STEM lab!
The challenge? Design and build a functional prosthetic arm using the engineering design process. To succeed, each prototype had to meet three strict criteria:
- Include at least one bend.
- Mimic the bend and motion of a human arm.
- Support weight completely on its own.
Our young engineers tackled the project head-on, designing, building, testing, communicating their findings, and making smart improvements to refine their prototypes.
The results were truly inspiring! 100% of students met the initial goal of having their prosthetic arms lift and support 25 grams, with almost every group going far beyond expectation to support over 125 grams!
We are so proud of our 5th graders for demonstrating great teamwork, critical thinking, and perseverance throughout this STEM challenge. Way to go, McKinley engineers!
📷 Ms. Hyde