CaseStudy on Hover Craft

8/3/2019 CaseStudy on Hover Craft

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/casestudy-on-hover-craft 1/14

GRID Project Case Study:

Design and Build a Hovercraft in a Day

Grange Technology College

and the University of Bradford

West Yorkshire, England, UK

I School Context

a. Introduction

Grange Technology College is a large mixed comprehensive school for

students aged 11-18 based in an urban area. It has approximately 1800

pupils who predominantly come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds

from areas close to Bradford city centre. Attainment is generally low andin 2003 there were 578 students whose primary language was not English.

Most students in the school are from an Asian (Pakistani) background,

with small minorities from white (British), Asian (Indian), Asian

(Bangladeshi), and others from a range of ethnic heritages1. The 2003

inspection report is positive and concludes that most aspects of the school, including the quality of

education provided, are very good. Over the last few years, exam grades and attendance have

improved dramatically at Grange Technology College2 and in 2004 was named as a ‘particularly

successful school’3. Grange has also received the ‘Schools Achievement Awards’4 for three

consecutive years (2001-2003).

The college achieved has specialist school status in ‘Technology’ in 2001, and has been awardedthe Specialist Colleges Trust Value Added Award in 2003. In 2005 the school was nominated as a

‘High Performing’ specialist school and invited to become a ‘Training School’5 by the DfES.

The school is also part of the Bradford Excellence in Cities (EiC) project, a national programme of

support for schools in deprived areas of the country, provided by the DfES. EiC provides resources

and a coherent programme of strategies focused on teaching and learning, behaviour and

attendance, and leadership. The programme includes a collection of initiatives ranging from

learning mentors and schemes for the gifted and talented to advanced technology city learning

centres.

1 Source: DfES Inspection Report, December 2003. http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/107/107414.pdf

2 GCSE Results - Percentage of students gaining A-C grades: 52% (2005), 46% (2004) and 29%(2003)

3 Since 1993/94, HMCI's Annual Report has identified schools that, in the inspection year, received an outstanding inspection report and

where the pupils were achieving very well.

4 The Schools Achievement Award was three year programme developed to celebrate the achievements of schools that have either made

significant improvement or are high performing.

5 Training School status is awarded to schools that have shown good practise in teacher training. The aim of the programme is to build

up and share good and developing Initial Teacher Training practice with other schools and their training providers, both within their

existing partnership networks and beyond. Extra funding is provided by the DfES so that schools can expand training activities.

1

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/107/107414.pdf

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/reports/107/107414.pdf



b. School Policy

In terms of general school policy, the school’s aims are:

• To help their students to learn and achieve together through a strong partnership between school,

students and home

• To help their students achieve to the best of their ability, and gain examination results to match

their potential

• To help students become aware of and develop their role in the community

• To prepare their students for further education, work and leisure

• To provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment in which learning can take place.

As a specialist school6, Grange has special focus on its specialist area: technology. As part of the

Specialist School Programme, the school must continue to teach the full national curriculum, but

also provide enriched learning opportunities in their chosen specialist subjects. Schools with

technology status must provide equally rich learning experiences in technology, maths and

science. As a result of this designation, the school has funding to provide enriching science

activities as well as work with the local community. Such activities are written in to the schools

development plan.

II Context of Pedagogical Project

a. Description of the Whole Plan:

The ‘Design and Build a Hovercraft in a Day’

event has been created by the University of

Bradford’s School of Engineering, Design and

Technology Department. This is a relatively large

department with a long and distinguished history.

As well as offering a variety of degree courses, thedepartment has been rapidly gaining a reputation

for its innovative, hands-on design and build

projects for schools and colleges. ‘Design and

Build a Hovercraft’ is one of their most popular.

The initial idea was developed by a Durham

University Professor. This has been developed by

the Bradford’s School of Engineering, originally

part of the department’s residential programmes,

where maths and physics were the core part of the

project. Over the years with funding from various sources, the event has been developed and

improved into a more fun and hands-on event for younger students (age 15-18). It was originallyset-up to focus on girls with an aim to to encourage them into engineering but over the last couple

of years other funding sources have allowed the project to expand and take place using mixed

gender groups such as the one at Grange Technology College.

Organisation

The ‘Design and Build a Hovercraft’ event is run in a variety of different schools as part of the

School of Engineering’s outreach activities. This particular event took place at Grange Technology

College, a school which is within close proximity of the local University. The day before the

GRID project’s observation (March 16th), the event was also ran with groups of year 12 students

(age 16-17) from several schools in the Bradford area.

2

6 For more information about the British Specialist School System: http://www.specialistschools.org.uk/

http://www.specialistschools.org.uk/

http://www.specialistschools.org.uk/



3

With major funding from NATEC – this same event has also taken place in other areas of the UK.

One of these events took place at the Airbus Factory in Broughton (Oxfordshire).

In terms of funding, the case study event at Grange is made possible with funding from the DfES

as part of their Technology College Specialist School status. The event is run with year 10 students

(age 14-15), but not the whole cohort can take part. The amount of funding the school has set aside

for this project is enough to fund 70 students. The students who take part in the event are primarily

those identified as gift and talented. These students also have a sufficient level of understanding of

maths/physics that is required to complete the activities. A couple of students the school thoughtwould benefit from the social skills acquired were also selected to take part.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the event is to inspire and interest students in science, maths and technology to

progress towards a career in engineering. The event is strategically placed in ‘National Science

Week’ in March towards the end of the school year to allow ample time for students to evaluate

their future career aspirations and make the appropriate further education choices. It is an

important time for students of this age as they are about 30% through their GCSE courses and will

already be considering their post-16 education options. Sixth-form and college applications are

generally made the following year, so the event is placed in that particular point of the school year

in order to influence student choices so that:

• Students have a chance to consider science, maths and technology for further study as well

as the possible career options this might open, leaving ample time for the student to

consider this fully and seek out further information and advice. If inspired, students who

were previously not interested in science related careers, can consider this as an option and

investigate appropriately what course would be of most benefit.

• Student perceptions are altered to perceive science and engineering careers as more

inviting. If they realise that this is an area of interest to them, they have time to engage

further in their studies if they weren’t so previously. Thus emphasising the importance of

science and maths studies and motivating students to work hard at the subjects that are

required.

b. Learning Process

The ‘Design and Build a Hovercraft’ event has been designed to be an entertaining, exciting and

stimulating learning activity that allows students to actively use maths and science to create a large

tangible objects. Taking place in the main school hall, a large environment that allows the students

to work in groups with large equipment/materials. This is usually not feasible in the average

school classroom. .

The approach is predominantly ‘hands-on’, concentrating on the development of understanding of

physics and maths concepts through participation in a real-life, project-based scenario. Teacherinstruction is minimal and more in the form of guidance, although and safety is of course a main

point of emphasis throughout the day. Initial talks by the teachers are used to motivate and excite

the students – giving context to the project; and although students are reminded of some maths and

physics concepts they will need to use, the emphasis is on the overall concept rather than the

specifics. All technical information is provided in the form of a handout document. This contains

all the practical information, including diagrams and formulas that will be needed to fully design

and build a hovercraft. Time is not taken to explain this orally to the group, students are each

given a paper copy as a source of reference of the day. It is up to the groups themselves to

understand and follow instructions and guidance provided in the handout.

The project takes pride in its use of everyday equipment; all work is conducted with inexpensive,modern household items that are easily available on the high street. The most elaborate is a ‘leaf

blower’ that is used as an engine, but other simple materials such as foam board, gaffer tape,

scissors and string are also used. All non-specialist items students are familiar with, they require



4

little explanation and every student would probably know where to buy these, bringing science

down to an everyday level of understanding. The project is not centred round the existence of the

equipment, but what is done with it – students are encouraged to be creative and think ‘out of the

box’, creating their own hovercraft design specifications using their own skills and knowledge to

perform accurate calculations.

c. Curriculum Links

This event is definitely something extra to the science and technology curriculum. However, thework conducted by students has direct links to ‘Forces and Motion’, a GCSE science unit of study.

The event is mostly an enrichment activity for gifted and talented students funded directly by

specialist status funding. In addition to the one day event, a comprehensive resource pack is

provided to students and teachers. This provides about 30 hours of hovercraft related learning

activities that include essays, questions, activities and further reading.

III Concrete Case Study

a. Introduction

Pedagogical Grid

Identification

Establishment: Grange Technology College, Bradford

Organiser’s name:

Joanne Crowther, (School of Engineering, Design

and Technology, University of Bradford) Judith

King (Grange School Technology Coordinator)

Subject:Engineering – Build and Design a Hovercraft in a

Day

Context

Class: level Year 10 students (age 14-15)

Number of pupils 70 x Year 10 students with 10 x year 12/13 mentors.

Date/Hour 16 March 2006: 09.15-15.30

Duration of the observation (when

applicable)1 day 09-15-15.30

Learning/teaching objective

Summary description

The event takes place in the Grange College of

Technology Main School Hall. The same event is

also held here on the 15th March for a variety of

local schools.

The selected school group recieves a short

introduction to the day, followed by a project

briefing session and short health and safety talk.

The participating school group is then divided in to

small groups of 8-10 pupils. During 2 phases, the

teams are to design, build and test their own mini-hovercraft that will support 100kg. The hovercraft is

made using everyday materials such as foam board,

plastic skirting and adhesive tape following



5

instructions given to them at the start of the day by

staff and students from the University. The teams

are assisted by student mentors (yr12/13).

At the end of their day's work, the pupils will get to

see whose design works the best when each team

will have to race each other's hovercraft.

Description of the sequence

Intentions of the teacher

The objective of the session is to give students a real

hands-on experience in the world of engineering by

allowing them to build and design their own

hovercraft in teams of 8-10. The aim is to inspire

and excite students about a career in engineering to

raise interest in them pursuing further education in

the sciences.

Tutors from the University are available to assist

students with the design and building process.

Description of the activity stage

The ‘Design and Build a Hovercraft’ activity is split

into several phases throughout the day:

• Introduction (10 mins): Pupils are given a

general introduction to the event by the

organiser.

• Project Briefing (20 mins): Pupils arebriefed about what they need to know to

design and build their hovercraft in teams.

• Health and Safety (5 mins): A small talk

regarding safety issues that may arrise.

• Design and Build Phase I (2 hrs and 50

mins): Teams design and build their

hovercraft. Pupils are assisted by university

staff and student mentors (yr12/13).

• Design and Build Phase II (45 mins): Time

for the teams to make any final adjustments

to their hovercrafts.• Testing – The Great Race (50 mins): The

teams get the chance to race their

hovercrafts where they will be assessed with

respect to design and speed criteria.

• Plenary and Prize Giving (30 mins): Prizes

are awarded to the winning teams.

Pupils’ output

The Design a Hovercraft in a day project is a hands-

on event where pupils actually create a working

hovercraft. First they design the vehicle according

to preliminary instructions, they begin their task by

using a series of complex equations to calculate



platform area, flow rate and skirt gap in order to

design a working hovercraft. They then procede to

build the hovercraft from every day materials

provided.

At the end of the day a chosen person from each

group gets to drive the hovercraft around the circuit,

the race is judged by the students according to

design and speed.

Scenario

The event takes place in a relatively large school hall with a layout that changes throughout the

day according to the phase of the event.

At the beginning of the event, the hall is laid out with a large seating area for the students in the

centre of the room. At the front of the hall is a screen and projector displaying information and

slides from presentations. At either side of the room, a row of 5 tables are arranged with the

necessary equipment the students will need throughout most of the day. Each team of students willbe given a designated ‘workstation’. One of the main characteristics of this event is the students’

ability to construct a working hovercraft they can race out of simple, everyday items as can be

seen below [Fig 1]

Fig 1 - Equipment

The event is mainly coordinated throughout the day by three people:

• Joanne Crowther (Event Organiser/University of Bradford)

6



• Jack Bradley (Event Co-Organiser/University of Bradford)

• Judith King (Assistant Head Teacher and Technology College Coordinator / Grange

Technology College)

b. Real Progression of the Session

The event is divided into several sections. First of all the event is introduced to the students.

Introductions

General Welcome (9.30 am)

Judith King, assistant head teacher, gives a general

introduction to the day. The nature of the event is already

one of competition. To inject some extra motivation, the

teacher adds an element of competition against their

older students in year 12 who took part in the same event

the day before.

Miss King: “What we are looking for today is for

year 10s to be so much better! To producehovercrafts that are really, really spectacular! The

designs yesterday were excellent, but I think you

people can do better!”

Miss King explains the purpose of the ‘Yellow T-Shirt Brigade’ – a team of year 12 mentors from

the school and older students from the university’s engineering department. In fact, the year 12

students from the school were also involved in the same event the day before. They have been

elected to help their younger students with their work, minimising teacher intervention. The

teacher explains how they have the ‘technical-know-how’ and will be there to assist the students

and to ensure health and safety.

Miss King: “The mentors are going to give you lots of safety instructions so you

know exactly what you are doing, exactly how you are going to do it, and we are

all going to build and race a hovercraft!”

Introduction to the Event (9.40 am)

Joanne Crowther (Event Organiser) from the University of Bradford takes centre stage and gives

an inspiring ‘great welcome’ to the event. Using an enthusiastic manner, Joanne motivates and

excites the students while she introduces the aims and objectives of the event:

Joanne explains about the project’s objectives and how it is hoped that it will inspire some of them

into thinking about becoming engineers and scientists for the future. The learning objectives of theevent are described:

Joanne: “You are going to have a lot of fun today, you are not

only going to have a go at building and designing a hovercraft,

you are also going to be working in a team This will test your

team building skills, communication skills and later on, we will

be also testing your creativity.”

The main emphasis of the day is ‘fun’. Students are constantly

reminded that they are to enjoy themselves and how they are the centre

of attention. It is a day for them and them only! Joanne proceeds to

show the students a picture of a hovercraft from a previous event [Fig

2] in order to illustrate the end result of the day Fig 2

7



Joanne then explains how they will race their hovercrafts in the ‘great race’ and how the room’s

layout will be changed to incorporate a small race track. She continues by describing safety

equipment that will be used such as helmets, elbow and knee pads and how safety must come first

at all times. The talk continues to detail how the events of the day will unfold. (The different

phases of the event are included in the Appendix.

Project Briefing (9.45am)

Jack Bradley explains how for today the students will be taking on the role of engineer. This

seems to give the students a sense of importance, it is certain that this is a role they have not been

able to assume before.

Jack: “An engineer uses science, physics, maths to design tangible objects like a

hovercraft. And you are going to be using some maths and physics. But it is going

to so much fun that you are not even going to know that you are doing it!”

He continues by describing how they will use a ‘design specification’.

“Your challenge today is to build a hovercraft. This hovercraft should be able to

carry a load of 1000 Newtons which is approximately 100Kg which is about twice

the weight of an average student. So you are going to design a hovercraft that canmove along this floor nice and smoothly…that is your challenge for today.”

“I would like to introduce you to a little mathematical formula, and that is that:

‘Pressure = Force / Area’. And this is a very basic formula that we can transpose”

“We have already done some work to find out what kind of pressure that the

motors generate and we also know the approximate weight of a student and by

doing a simple calculation by transposing this equation we can work out the

theoretical area of your hovercraft. How big it needs to be. We have done that work

for you and I can tell you that the area of your hovercraft should be 1 square metre”

Jack demonstrates what a metre square looks like by arranging

four steel rules in a square. This is the exact surface area

needed by the hovercraft in order for it to carry a student. He

encourages the students to be creative:

“But square is a very boring shape…don’t you agree? We

don’t want to build a square hovercraft! So your first task

once split into groups will be to design the ‘shape’ of your

hovercraft. It can be any shape that you like…but it must

have a surface area of one square metre”

Jack explains about the handout document they have been given and how all the informationthey will need, including formulas and diagrams, is provided there.

8



Health and Safety Talk (10.00 am)

This part of the talk details the equipment that is provided (and

its appropriate usage) as well as safety precautions that must be

considered. It is important to ensure safety guidelines as some of

the equipment carries certain risks and students will often be

working in their own groups without full supervision by the

teachers. Particular emphasis is placed on safety when using

knives. Jack explains that the safety gloves and glasses should be

worn at all times when cutting.

Foam boards should only be cut whilst on top of the silver

insulation that have been provided. To cut out the boards, knives

with a retractable blade are to be used in combination with craft

knives for extra length.

Safety is emphasised and covers must be placed over the knives

whenever they are not in use. Other pieces of equipment are

explained in detail so that the students know what to do with the.

One such tool is the circular cutter pictured on the left.

Students are shown a short video clip of the film ‘Die Another Day’ where James Bond uses a

hovercraft to escape from the enemy. Students are then split into 9 equally proportioned mixed

sex groups. The 10 students from Haycliffe school stay in their own group and is supervised

by the teacher who accompanied them. All chairs are removed from the centre of the hall -

groups are allocated a workstation. From this point forward the students are responsible for

their own work with guidance from mentors. The event organisers and teachers take a back

seat approach – they intervene only when it is appropriate.

‘Design and Build’ Phase 1

Students are sat down in their groups at their allocated table and begin to look through the

equipment. Mentors introduce themselves and settle down the groups so that all students

remain focused. The groups from Grange are a selection of a very large year group, so they

may not already know each other before the event. Mentors therefore encourage students to

introduce themselves and communicate with all members of the group as team work is very

important aspect of this initiative. The group that is taking part in the event is a selection of a

large year group, so not all student know each other automatically therefore introductions are

needed. Every student is given a badge to wear so that they can identify each other correctly.Student mentors assist with this process:

Mentor: “So who wants to do the drawing then? Anyone want to design the

hovercraft?

Mentor: “Anybody want to be the leader, anyone up to that challenge?”

9



The teams of students talk amongst themselves

and their mentors as they begin to discuss their

roles in designing/building the hovercraft. Mentors

encourage the students to communicate.

Once the appropriate roles have been allocated, the

teams progress to discussing the design of their

hovercrafts. Mentors assist the students in this

process. At first, the students brainstorm thedesign of their hovercrafts on paper. They discuss

both the shapes and size of the hovercraft base.

The surface area must be equal to 1 square metre.

Several possible shapes are discussed between the teams.

Fig 3 - Hovercraft Shapes

The students then use their maths skills to calculate the appropriate dimensions for the required

area (i.e. 1m²) All students are already familiar with the necessary equations needed to calculate

different shaped areas.

Fig 4 – Hovercraft Maths

Once the teams have completed their calculations and made a joint decision about their hovercraft

design, the teams proceed to collect the cutting area to choose their board and cut-out their design.Mentors are available to help out the students to ensure accurate measurements and cutting. Each

hovercraft design is different – a variety of different shapes and sizes have been used.

10



Once cut out, the foam board forms the main platform for the hovercraft. Students build another

platform on top for the leaf blower. This is necessary so that it can be inserted and held in place

safely. A special instrument is used to cut a hole in the foam board.

Student Q and A (12.30pm)

A few of the student mentors are former Grange pupils who are now studying for an engineering

degree at the University of Bradford. As part of the ‘Design and Build a Hovercraft’ event, time is

set aside for these mentors to talk to the participating students about university life and their

courses at the University of Bradford. Appropriate A-level choices are discussed as well as future

higher education / career possibilities. This time is used to link the practical activities of the day to

the students’ forthcoming further education choices. This is also a time where students are

encouraged to ask questions regarding furthering their education to purse Science, Technology,

Engineering and Maths related careers.

Design and Build Phase II

In this stage, students continue building their

hovercrafts where needed. The student teams are

at different stages of their design. A couple of

teachers become involved to assist a few groups

who are lagging behind.

Mentors continue to assist and guide the teams

with the construction of their hovercraft. Plastic

sheeting is attached to form a skirt on the

hovercraft. This is a collaborative process that

requires several team members to assist.

11



A more creative element is introduced to the

event. The groups are asked to choose a name

for their team and are given materials so that

they can decorate their hovercrafts. These

include: coloured markers and pencils, glitter,

feathers, glue and balloons.

Some teams create additional fittings and

objects out of spare foam board and card.

They design logos based on their team

names. They are also given plain white T-

Shirts that they can write on and wear for the

remainder of the event.

Final Adjustments & Testing

The building phase comes to an end and students are encouraged to make their final adjustments to

their hovercrafts. A member of each team is chosen to ride the hovercraft in the race – other team

members assist with the test and setup of the hovercraft. Several adults including teachers/mentors

are available in case of any problems. In order to function correctly, the hovercrafts are attached

by a rope so that they can be pulled. The leaf blowers create a rush of air that allows the hovercraft

to glide across the floor. After being tested successfully, the hovercrafts are lined up ready for the

race.

The Great Race

This is the highlight of the event where the teams finally get to compete and race their hovercrafts.

The race takes the form of several heats – two hovercrafts compete in each round. A panel of

adjudicators marks each hovercraft according to their design and speed.

Once each hovercraft has raced, the winning teams and runners up are announced. All competitors

take home a small gift to remember the event.

c. Open Conclusion

Achieved Objectives

All teams have successfully built and raced their hovercrafts with minimal intervention from

adults. There is a great sense of satisfaction and pride amongst the students who have thoroughly

enjoyed the day’s activities. Students have greater awareness of the role of an engineer and have

developed several skills through the design and construction of their hovercraft. They have also

12



gained a good understanding of the subjects and qualifications needed to be accepted on a

science/engineering degree.

Obstacles

No particularly large obstacles other than time needed to organise and run the event as well as

replenishing materials. Students sometimes have to be reminded of the health and safetyguidelines in order for them to be followed correctly.

Transferability

This project is particularly transferable due to its use of easily available everyday materials. All of

these can be purchased easily from supermarkets and DIY stores. A suitably large room is needed

to accommodate the hovercraft materials, tools and building space. The event can be run in a

single school or as a joint initiative between several institutions. A good team of student mentors is

vital for this the project to work. They have to be fully briefed about the event in advance, or have

taken part themselves in the past.

13



IV – ‘Design and Build a Hovercraft in a Day Programme

14

Documents

CaseStudy on Hover Craft