Meeting Abstract
This study aims to combine engineering, and more specifically fabrication, into biology education outreach. Following a design-based research methodology (Barab & Squire, 2004), we are iteratively developing K-12 educational materials to target core ideas in life science as described in The Next Generation Science Standards. In our first iteration, we designed and fabricated various skulls and mandibles using a MakerBot Replicator+ for use as outreach materials with middle school students who visited our university on a school field trip. Students were able to handle the fabricated materials (as opposed to just looking at real skulls) to correctly identify organisms as herbivores or carnivores based on the structure and function of the teeth and jaw bones. In our second iteration, we are focusing on high school students and incorporating physics concepts through biomechanics to help them fabricate their own herbivore or carnivore jaw. For educational facilities that do not have access to a fabricator, affordable methods will also be available. By using these hands-on activities, teachers will be able to integrate various sciences together and increase the students’ conceptual understanding and interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
