Purdue Engineering

Last Saturday I took Kyle down to Purdue for a free Day of Discovery Open House event hosted by some Engineering students. Once we got there I found a really nice parking spot or so I thought! Kyle had mentioned to me that the door on the dumpster that I had parked next to had a huge P on it for Purdue, isn't that cool! Of course I didn't think anything of parking in front of the dumpster. So Kyle and I got out and walked across the street to the Civil Engineering building for a fun morning. Once we got there, they had a few stations set up for the kids to make their way through and learn lots of different things. The first thing that Kyle did was make a space ship to fly to the moon like Neil Armstrong, a Purdue graduate. The picture below shows what they used to launch the rockets from, unfortunately you can't see the pictures of the planets in front!

Then we went to go do some electrical engineering. Kyle had to put all of his pieces together on the circuit board to make sound. Kyle really liked doing this project so now I should find one of those box kits somewhere for him. Or have Chad make him one, he's good at that stuff.Then he went to design a helmet that wouldn't splatter the brains (water balloon) on the thumb tacks (road). This one was fun, they had to take into consideration the amount of materials used and think about the cost of using them in the design process. The first one, not so good! The brain went splat!Then on the second one Kyle thought he had it, but Yikes! He didn't! Another big splat! The Styrofoam plates and cotton balls didn't hold up! Then on the last one he did aluminum foil, cotton and I think one or two foam peices. Below, you can see him dropping his helmet and brain on the road!

And then Ta-Da! It survived!

And the last activity that Kyle got to do was to construct a roller coaster and then use different weighted balls (marble, wooden and plastic) to see which one uses more potential energy. Of course he also found out that he had to make sure his track was just right so the ball (roller coaster seat) didn't fly off the tracks!

It definitely took time to get the loops just right!

Kyle enjoyed this activity as well, he said he can do the same thing at home with his Hot Wheels track. I liked the fact that all of the things that Kyle did we can recreate at home in a very similar way. I'm sure Lindsey would enjoy doing some of these activities! When Kyle and I were all done we walked across the street to our van so we could leave and go shopping. When we got back my van was gone! Like completely gone! "Oh my gosh, my van has been towed" I told Kyle. Now were is it! Of course I had no clue what to do, but rest assured the people that had it towed, because it was in front of the dumpster, gave me a card of where I could find it. So I called the towing company and asked if my van was there and they said it was. She also said that they were getting ready to close until Monday! What, no I need my van! So she was nice enough to wait about a half an hour after closing for me to come and get it. I had to wait on someone to come pick us up and take us across town. Of course that cost me $49 for her to wait and a grand total of $200 (of course it had to be all cash to) completely waisted! So I got my van and then went shopping, stopped by the library down there to finish some homework and by that time it was kinda late so I asked Kyle if he wanted to stop at Culver's to eat before we head home. So we did and you will never believe what I seen as I pulled in the parking lot! Oh my gosh! The same exact towing truck that was at the lot where my van was! What are the odds! And then when we went inside I seen the guy and girl that I had just given my money to! I did make a comment to the guy as he walked up to refill his drink when Kyle and I were filling ours. "Hey your the guy that towed my van!" He looked at me like lady be quite! Ha! I thought it was funny, he didn't! I think he was embarrassed! I must admit the guy could have at least taken the girl out for some steak instead of a burger and fries with the money I just gave them Geesh! So over all it was a day full of many learning experiences! Of course, I believe it's safe to say that I have become Kyle's role model of what NOT to do when you get your license! Ha! Ha! Lisa