 "Photo: Priscilla Reyna-Ovalle")
 "Photo: Priscilla Reyna-Ovalle")
Five toys built by 19 students at this college will demonstrate engineering concepts for visitors to the San Antonio Children’s Museum Saturday.
The service-learning project simultaneously allowed students and faculty to meet educational objectives, such as experiencing what being an engineer is like, and community needs, such as instilling a love for engineering in young children, organizers said.
“I want them to have that experience of what it means to be creative, to face customers in real-life situations,” said engineering Coordinator Dan Dimitriu, referring to his ENGR 1201, Introduction to Engineering, students who worked on the project.
Destiny Stivers, the museum’s science and health coordinator, said science and engineering careers “are some of the most important jobs to have.”
“We need to instill in children a love for science and engineering at an early age,” Stivers said, adding that the project also gives “first-year students a chance to be engineers so they will know it’s something they want to do.”
Dimitriu said not everyone is cut out for engineering. Students have dropped his ENGR 1201 class, among other reasons, because “they found out it wasn’t for them,” or simply “couldn’t put up with the demands,” he said.
His 19 students were divided into five groups, each having three weeks to plan, build and test a toy for children of kindergarten through elementary school age. The toys had to encourage experimentation, be nonhazardous, easy to use and durable.
“Kids are kind of harsh,” said Stivers, who visited the engineering class Nov. 4 to check the toys for errors and suggest improvements.
One toy, a brightly painted car-launch-ramp, would have children use the concept of force to pull a string softly enough to launch the car down the ramp and land on the other side without going too fast and flipping over.
“This is really, really cute,” Stivers said, “but you’ll have to make that string a chain or something. I see a kid snapping that thing on the first try.”
Electrical engineering sophomore Carl Anderson’s group built a football game to demonstrate electrical circuits, having the child move a pen-like player (positive end) across the 10-inch field without bumping into any metal-tab opponents (negative end) that would signal a light for the child to start over.
“You do have a little stress,” Anderson said about working on the project, “but it’s a lot of fun.”
One group used circuits to create a shape-matching game for younger children.
Children learn about magnetism and anatomy with a wooden toy that requires connecting the human body by pairing positive and negative magnets.
Propulsion will be demonstrated in mechanical engineering freshman Kyle Anderson’s group’s wooden catapult that can launch objects more than 10 feet.
But children will have to manage that power if they’re hungry.
“We might do something with pizza and pizza toppings,” Anderson said, noting that the toppings can’t be launched too far or they will miss the pizza.
Anderson spent more than 12 hours hand-crafting the toy in his father’s garage but believes the experience was worth the time and energy spent.
“I think it lets you get a better start,” he said. “I’ve talked to friends in other classes, and none of them do things like this.”
Dimitriu said it’s the third semester his class has donated the toys. The program with the museum began in fall 2008.
Although the toys will be played with only twice a month, Stivers said, the museum will display them in glass cases until February and then store them for future use.
To honor faculty and staff with the greatest involvement in service learning since the program began in 2001, the service-learning department organized the SAC Salutes Service Learning award ceremony and dinner Nov. 3 at La Fonda, sponsored by L&M bookstore.
More than 148 faculty have participated in or incorporated service learning projects into their curriculum since 2001, according to Service Learning Data 2001-2009.
Of the 80 faculty and staff to receive awards, only 20 were present to accept them, either because they were no longer staffed or unable to attend, said service learning coordinator Audrey Grams.
“We’re trying to get those faculty who have participated before to continue, and those who haven’t yet to get started,” Grams said.
More than 9,407 students have served more than 121,405 hours since 2001.
For more information on service learning opportunities and to view a list of professors who use them, visit the service learning Web page.
Faculty members interested in incorporating service learning into their curriculum can contact Grams at 486-0761 or by e-mail, agrams@alamo.edu.
The San Antonio Children’s Museum, 305 E. Houston St., is open 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday, with the engineering students’ toys available from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. The museum also is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $7 for children ages 2-17.
A parent or guardian that is at least 18 years old must accompany all children. For more information, visit the museum’s Web page.
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