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Design your own underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV).

Article Excerpt
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

While looking for labs for my pre-engineering class, I came across an idea for a marine engineering project from the Future Scientists and Engineers of America website. I thought the lab looked fun, and it was not too expensive. These were two important criteria as I chose labs for the class. Another important criteria I had for implementing labs into the class was whether or not I could incorporate both science and math concepts into the lesson. I felt I could develop a connection between both science and math with technology and engineering as I developed the lab. What really clinched the development of the project for me came when I saw Robert Ballard speak at the 2008 ITEA conference in Salt Lake City. As he talked about his experiences in ROVs and his JASON Project, I knew this lab was one my students needed to do.

I knew developing this lab would take me out of my comfort zone. However, I feel for a teacher to become a better teacher, he or she must learn new things. This, in turn, frustrated one of my students who told me she thought I should know everything. She thought I should have done the lab first and worked out all of the problems in order to anticipate the problems students would have and be able to provide answers. I explained that when she gets a job and her boss approaches her with a problem that she can't immediately solve, she will have to use the skills she is learning now to help her solve problems later. She was OK...