Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Mike Smith:
Steve, suppose a homeschooling mom wants to teach her child how science and math can be practical. Can you describe a simple, hands-on engineering project that could be done at home?

Steve Wells:
Mike, that’s easy. Realize that all math and science must be practical to be useful. If you want a kid to understand a subject, there must be a practical application to it.

Take, for instance, the center of gravity, let’s say. In engineering school, we teach the center of gravity of any object is simply the location where that object is perfectly balanced. You can teach a student this principle this way: place a kitchen chair next to a wall. Have your student stand next to the chair, opposite the wall, and then have the student lean over, keeping their legs straight, and touch their head to the wall. Then have them reach down and pick up the chair, without pushing off, in any way. Then ask them to stand straight while holding the chair. They will not be able to do it. Why? Because the center of gravity, their center of gravity, is off balance and they do not have the power to overcome this, quote, “off-center,” this off-center weight that gravity is applying on the chair.

So you see, Mike, this is a simple illustration of how gravity, the center of gravity, is applied to engineering, every day.

Mike:
Steve, that sounds like a great experiment! Thanks for joining us today! And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.