Page 2 - PlumIS - May 2019
P. 2
• Michael Bednar
• Robert Hankinson
• Hailey Helpenstell
• Alexis Krotz
• Zachary McPherson • Ashley Pattock
• Kacie Persia
• Jacob Trusky
PHS
page 2
Culmination of a Cross-Curricular Nature
Plum High School’s AP Biology and STEAM Studio students collaborated to sustainably provide hydroponic materials for the teach- ing kitchen in the Life Skills classroom. The biology and STEAM teachers, Dr. Bhamre and Ms. McPherson, developed and imple- mented the unit together after taking part
in the Research Experience for Teachers program offered by the University of Pitts- burgh. The resulting project enabled their students to participate in the engineering de- sign competition hosted by the University of Pittsburgh’s Human Engineering Research Laboratory (HERL).
The plan demanded that the students prac- tice the same kind of collaborative teamwork which characterizes professional work in the engineering industry, where the coordinated contribution of different specialists is often required to meet clients’ needs. The AP
Biology students conducted experiments to determine the best growing media while the STEAM Studio students de- signed the mechanics of the prototype hydroponics system. Both classes focused on using upcycled materials in their de- signs and experiments. The students saw this as an exciting and rewarding oppor- tunity to apply biology and STEAM to a real-world problem.
The winners of Pitt’s HERL engineering design competition were:
