U of A Teacher-Education Students Provide Guidance in Design Challenge

Students buy supplies with their credits.

Team members work together on a design.

A U of A student mentors each team.

A team tests the vehicle with help from Mike Daugherty, head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.

Vinson Carter, assistant professor of STEM education, asks a design question.

Little details make a difference.

Building can also be fun.

Students watch their wind-powered vehicle perform.

The winning Leverett team members pose with the individual trophies and their U of A student mentor.

The Big Cat trophy goes home with the Leverett lions.

Heidi Wells and Ben Pollock

A closeup shows one entry in the design competition.

Leverett Elementary students walked away with the first-place trophy from the Razorback STEM Big Cat Challenge on Dec. 9, in a competition University of Arkansas organizers hope will become an annual tradition.

Vinson Carter, assistant professor of STEM education in the College of Education and Health Professions, said Washington and Leverett elementary schools in Fayetteville both have cats as mascots, Washington wildcats and Leverett lions, so the idea was to build on the friendly rivalry. The winner will bring the trophy back to next year’s competition as they attempt to hold on to it with a victory.

Students in the teacher-preparation programs in the College of Education and Health Professions helped prepare the competition and “sold” building materials to the competitors in exchange for credits they received with the contest instructions. A U of A student worked with each team of elementary pupils as a mentor during the contest.

The design challenge based on STEM principles, which stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, began with a scenario in which a zombie apocalypse has occurred. The students must design and build a wind-powered vehicle to travel the furthest distance from the scene of zombie destruction to a zombie safe house in a neighboring town.

Each vehicle had to carry a golf ball while it was propelled by an electric fan at the start of the track built of folding tables with a barrier constructed of balloons surrounding it.

“The event gives our students an opportunity to gain experience working with small groups on a STEM challenge,” Carter said.

The event was funded by the University of Arkansas Education Renewal Zone, also in the College of Education and Health Professions.