Check out the student work submitted for real-world industry feedback! Learn more about submitting student work to receive real-world feedback here!

Grade: Elementary School

PLTW Pathway: Launch

Submission type: Activity: Properties & Reactions

Project overview:  Students engage in explorations of energy-related phenomena. They make observations, pose questions, and make connections as they investigate energy transfers. Throughout the module, students explore connections to careers and to the necessity of energy in real-life as they visit multiple business owners through the Main Street interactive experience. To deepen their understanding of energy, students design an investigation to test what happens when marbles collide on a track. Each business owner presents a problem that needs to be solved. Students select a problem and use the design process to apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.

Select student submission materials:

Link to full project: click here

Select Judge Feedback: “I work at National Grid, which is a utility company here in Massachusetts.  I personally LOVE food, so the idea of having hot food when I’m not near a microwave or stove is exciting. I like the idea of updating your prototype to make it retain heat better and keep food warm longer. What do you think you could use or how could you redesign your box to help retain heat?

I remember in middle school being told that you could fry and egg on a hot car engine. I never tried it but it’s the same concept – use heat from an existing source and keep food warm. Thank you for your time and effort, and keep up the amazing work!”

– Manager of QA, National Grid

“Hi! I am a Senior PM at NV Energy where I manage energy efficiency, clean energy and transportation electrification projects. I graduated in 1985 as BSEE, and I have a MSc in Clean Energy.

Guys, you rock! I loved the heat transfer device you have created and the interview video. The product demonstrated that you understood the problem, accepted the challenge, and come out with a feasible solution. This is how things are done in the engineering industry.

I also liked the suggestions provided by the group during the interview to come up with improvements to the project design.

I worked for the most of my professional career with renewable energy, notably with solar energy. If you guys allow me to make a suggestion (and also a challenge): Can you think about a design that would concentrate the solar energy into the box to replace the hand warmer? Think about it.

Overall, you nailed it! Congratulations.”

– Senior PM, NV Energy

Industry Award: Launch Award

School: Highland (Westfield)

Teacher: Jordan Eicher