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From model ships for high school
engineering challenges and boat design, there is a miscellaneous
category here for you!
Model Cargo Boats
for High School Engineering Challenges
The Baltimore Museum of Industry promotes Engineering Challenges for
middle and high school students. I have been the leader for several
home school groups over the years and the most enjoyable challenge is
the cargo ship. Here students will design and build a model cargo ship
about 4 feet long using an old windshield wiper d.c. electric motor.
The point is to move as much "cargo" (pine sticks), sometimes as much
as 50 lbs, around a track buoyed in the Baltimore inner harbor. I have
written a design and build guide for students describing the necessary
systems, but also how to make hulls out of epoxied-soaked cardboard.
Click here to download my
guide on designing model cargo ships for engineering challenges






I developed this technique over some weeks to help out my
students. It starts with making your design on (or with) paper!
Global Warming and Sea Level Rise Calculations
I have made simple Earth temperature models where
people can see for themselves the variables involved. Too many
people are quick to focus on a single variable in this question, and
then say "ah-ha!" to justify their own preset opinions when they see a
single piece of evidence. If we lived in a single-variable world
all this would be easy, but we don't and it's not. I also
have done calculations to show the possible magnitude of sea level
rises if either the Greenland or Antarctic ice cap were to melt.
Arctic ice doesn't count for sea level rise because it is already in
the water displacing volume. Continental ice is not sitting in
the water, so when it melts it does add to ocean volume and therefore
sea level rise. My own brother who had been in the Navy told me
he thought it was impossible, because he has seen the vastness of the
ocean and it was inconceivable that anything could change sea
levels. Well we know that is very possible just from the changes
produced by the last ice age where levels went way down and allowed
human migration from Asia to the Americas, and from Asia to
Australia. After I showed him the simple high school math proving
the easy possibility of sea level change, he conceeded his former
opinion was not based on having all the facts, but was overly
influenced by radio talk show personalities. His "beliefs" are
now replaced by facts, at least on this topic.
Click here to download the pdf file with the global warming calculations
Click here to download the pdf file with the sea level rise calculations
People also do not realize the level of destruction that is happening
with our oceans. The waves still look the same, it still looks
blue, but beneath the surface wholesale destruction is happening.
Everyone needs to get involved even if only from the self-interest
point of view; humans need the oceans. A very famous
oceanographer Sylvia Earle is leading the battle to save our oceans;
please see the Mission Blue documentary and visit the web site:
Mission-Blue web site
Software for Designing Boat Hulls: ConicBoatLoft4
I have made a boat shape lofting software package
that shapes boat hulls with conic sections. It is a bit outdated in
terms of operator ease (I programmed this many years ago when my skills
were not as developed), and I don't have the time to update it!
Click here to download the zip file for
the setup program for ConicBoatLoft
Software
for Solar Shadows
If you need to illustrate solar shadows from a stick (gnomon), or need
to know the position of the sun at any time of day or month, or would
like to see where on the globe the sun is directly overhead, then this
program is for you! Useful for middle and high school science teachers.
Click here to download the SolarShadow
setup program
Software for Eye Optics Ray Tracing
Want to see how light refracts in the human eye to produce a focused
spot? Well download this program and put on different eye glass
prescriptions, and use different wave length light to see how focused a
spot can be on the retina! Unfortunately I did not over
complicate this with astigmatism; only spherical aberrations.

Click here to download the EyeOptics 3D
setup program
Spacecraft Deployable Structures Presentation
I taught the mechanical systems portion of a spacecraft design class at
University of Maryland, a graduate-level aerospace engineering class
for several years. I had made a Deployables Compendium to show
the many types of mechanism structures developed over the years.
Click here to visit the U of M site where the presentation is available
ALL THESE RESOURCES ARE FOR
EDUCATIONAL USES ONLY! ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED
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