Language Arts



STEM Project: “Dummies Personified”

• Premise of assignment:

• Crash Test Dummies, a.k.a. anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs), have been used for many years to simulate the movements, dimensions, and weight proportions of the human body during impact in order to enhance the design and engineering of many types of vehicles. From the torque of the body, to the crushing force, to the impact velocity, these Dummies are put through numerous scenarios to ensure your safety.

But, what about them? For far too long, these Dummies have been used and abused, afflicted with scars far beneath their fabricated skin. Perhaps they too have feelings. Emotions. Ideas. Perhaps they aren’t so dumb after all…

• Student task(s):

• On each desk, you will find four different scenarios. You must select TWO.

1. “Tornado Troubles”

• Problem: Flying projectiles and debris

• Vehicle: Helicopter

• Role: Pilot

• Location: Kansas

• Solution: ?

2. “Zombie Apocalypse”

• Problem: Piling corpses of the Walking Dead

• Vehicle: Motorcycle

• Role: Soldier

• Location: Russia

• Solution: ?

3. “Dangerous Speedsters”

• Problem: Vulnerable to aggressive watercraft

• Vehicle: Jet Ski

• Role: Driver

• Location: Pacific Ocean

• Solution: ?

4. “Blizzard Blunder”

• Problem: Ice-coated terrain

• Vehicle: Semi-truck

• Role: Trucker

• Location: Alaska

• Solution: ?

•

• From the perspective of these Crash Test Dummies, you will write TWO SEPARATE narratives using the set details of each scenario to do the following:

1. READ MY EXAMPLE TO USE AS A MODEL!

2. Develop your character (e.g., age, emotions, gender, style, attitude, etc.), referencing the specifics of the setting and various environmental factors involved.

3. Address the problem established in your selected scenario in a creative manner.

4. Propose a logical solution to prevent future problematic occurrences with the vehicle in your selected scenario. *For your solution, you must include a blueprint, sketch, or picture that reveals the proposed design modification.*

Mr. Frankenstein’s Example

Scenario:

• “Flippin’ School Bus”

o Problem: Top-heavy loads

o Vehicle: School bus

o Role: Teenage passenger

o Location: Hills of Tennessee

Modeled as a teenage youth, thirteen years old my entire life, around 5’ 8”, metallic skin, bald with hollow eyes and a hollow brain, a dazzling smile, and a not-so-charming personality, some might say I’m too good to be true. Well, maybe I am. Unlike other kids my age, I don’t have the typical bad attitude and whatnot. “My parents suck.” “School sucks.” Cry me a river. My life sucks. Really, it sucks beyond belief.

I can’t even speak. And boy do I have plenty to say. Ever ride a school bus with a bunch of incompetent, immobile 6th graders? Quite an enjoyable experience, I must say. Riding the school bus, day after day after day after day, is my routine reality. I’m the first to get on and the last to get off. Hour after hour, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, plowing into concrete walls head on, launching over curbs at full speed, accelerating over speed bumps without a second thought. (Seriously though, I thought the point was to slow down… Go figure.) Monday through Friday, I’m strapped in for the ride of my life, my life-long ride, driven by some computer contraption that seems to possess the impeccable navigation skills of a blind 80 year old psychopath. So, it’s no surprise that she—the computer—totally flipped the bus yesterday, trying to simulate the rugged terrain and turns of Tennessee’s frequent hillsides. Fortunately, I survived, being virtually indestructible and all. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for everyone else, or anyone else in the future for that matter.

You see, these school buses are a bit top-heavy, if you know what I mean. Any sharp turn over, say, 35 mph sends our rickety old bus teetering up onto one side, begging to flop over for an eternal nap. Current solution: Everyone shifts their weight to the opposite side, allowing the bus to regain its balance. Hurray! We’re all saved, avoiding the potential catastrophe.

Sure. Really safe. Really safe, I tell you.

While shifting one’s weight may seem like a brilliant “solution” to some, I can assure you as a Crash Test Dummy that such methods often lack positive outcomes. This supposed solution, like many others, does anything but resolve the issue. Thankfully, I have a logical solution in mind. Yes, without a brain, I have outwitted scholars, mechanics, scientists, and engineers, devising a plan to increase the design and safety features of a school bus.

So, as you can see in the Figure A below, most school buses are lengthy, ranging anywhere from 12 to 40 feet, with a typical height of 10 feet and width around 8 feet.

Now, I don’t think it takes a genius to realize that by slightly expanding the width of a school bus from 8 to 8.5-9 feet, the weight distribution would enhance the stability of the vehicle, increasing the balance around turns at higher speeds. Buses would still be able to maneuver through traffic, avoiding curbs on right turns, and still fitting between traffic lanes that range from 9 to 12 feet, as shown in Figure B below.

While gas costs may increase due to additional weight other minor factors, the extra space could be used for a few more bodies. A few more bodies per bus, fewer buses needed en route. It’s a no brainer. Not to mention the safety of the human race is as stake. And, I hope that such an important matter would be cause enough for some extra funding. But who am I to have a say in such sophisticated affairs. If by some miracle there is someone out there, listening for the unheard voices of Crash Test Dummies, maybe this solution will actually work? Just maybe. Just maybe I will finally be able to unlatch my seatbelt without the painful indentations across my chest. Maybe I won’t have to suffer daily concussions or digging the shattered glass out of my face. Maybe I won’t have to be stuck on a school bus with those other useless Dummies on my route. Hey, maybe I might even be able to finally go on that summer vacation I’ve heard about. Trust me. I won’t be taking the bus for this one.

“Dummies Personified” Assignment

• On each desk, you will find four different scenarios. You must select TWO for your writing assignment.

• From the perspective of these Crash Test Dummies, you will write TWO SEPARATE narratives using the set details of each scenario to do the following:

• READ “MR. FRANKENSTEIN’S EXAMPLE” TO USE AS A MODEL!

• Develop your character (e.g., age, emotions, gender, style, attitude, personality, etc.), referencing the specifics of the setting and various environmental factors involved.

• Address the problem established in your selected scenario in a creative manner.

• Propose a logical solution to prevent future problematic occurrences with the vehicle in your selected scenario. *For your solution, you must include a blueprint, sketch, or picture that reveals the proposed design modification.*

SCENARIOS:

1. “Tornado Troubles”

• Problem: Flying projectiles and debris

• Vehicle: Helicopter

• Role: Pilot

• Location: Kansas

• Solution: ?

2. “Zombie Apocalypse”

• Problem: Piling corpses of the Walking Dead

• Vehicle: Motorcycle

• Role: Soldier

• Location: Russia

• Solution: ?

3. “Dangerous Speedsters”

• Problem: Vulnerable to aggressive watercraft

• Vehicle: Jet Ski

• Role: Driver

• Location: Pacific Ocean

• Solution: ?

4. “Blizzard Blunder”

• Problem: Ice-coated terrain

• Vehicle: Semi-truck

• Role: Trucker

• Location: Alaska

• Solution: ?

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Figure A

Figure B

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