Mechanical Engineering - AgTech

Instructor directions are listed below:

1. Explain to students that the third type of engineering we will focus on is mechanical engineering.
    
2. Ask students if they have any ideas as to what a mechanical engineer does.
    
3. Explain that a mechanical engineer builds the physical structure of the device, like a robot or a drone.
    
4. Ask students what part of our bodies we might relate to mechanical engineering.  The answer we are looking for is the bones.
    
5. Explain to students that mechanical engineers work on systems like the bones (the skeletal system) in our bodies.
    
6. If you are using the Thinkabit Lab Notebook, fill in the third blank on page 12 as shown below:
   • Mechanical Engineering: This is like the  BONES  in our bodies.
7. Discuss with students how mechanical engineering is related to the bones in the skeletal system by asking: How are the bones in a human body like a mechanical system with which a mechanical engineer would work.
    
8. Explain to students the following interconnected ideas 
   • Bones are arranged to have different types of joints.
   • Your neck is designed to swivel.
   • Your shoulder is designed to rotate.
   • These joints control how the human body moves.
9. Summarize the mechanical engineer and bones analogy by explaining that mechanical engineers decide how parts are arranged to create different types of movement.

Rather than merely telling the analogy of mechanical engineering being like the bones in our bodies, ask students to help define what a mechanical engineer does and then ask them to relate that activity to a particular system of the body. You can also use the internet to search for a mechanical engineer and see what their job entails.

You can also choose to use the video below to explain the connection of these basic engineering concepts to our human bodies.