Published: September 07, 2007 05:55 pm      

Test uses eggs as ‘crash dummies’

BROWNSBURG — Wendy Otoupal-Hylton’s eighth-grade gateway to technology class at Brownsburg East Middle School has been having fun while learning about motorsports the past several weeks.

The class has been studying a unit about the history of motorsports and crash-test vehicles, and as a part of the unit they built crash-test vehicles, in which eggs served as the passengers.

Otoupal-Hylton said she has been teaching about kinetic energy, and how all energy is transferable.

“When a car crashes and rolls, it’s more driver-friendly,” she said.

She used the example that in studies, a Mini Cooper vehicle that has been in an accident crumples, and the effect of the crumpling absorbs the energy of the crash, rather than the driver. In the same study, a Ford F-150 pick-up truck that is in an accident folds rather than crumples, and the driver is injured more badly, because there is no crumpling to absorb the energy.

As an experiment, the students were given a list of supplies to use to create a car — wood, rubber bands, poster board, and wood glue — were given dimension requirements, and then were graded on how well they followed instructions and how well their vehicles performed.

She said most of the eggs in the experiment were ejected and broke from hitting the ground, which was an opportunity for her to teach about the history of seatbelts and how auto safety parallels with motorsports safety. She said seatbelts were placed in race cars before they were put in passenger cars.

Otoupal-Hylton’s husband, Pete Hylton, is the director of motorsports for IUPUI’s engineering program, and spoke to her classes about crushable structures and passenger protection. He returned after the students completed the vehicles to help with the crash experiments.

After the crash-testing project is finished, Otoupal-Hylton said her students will learn about the management side of engineering, including creating proposals to sell their vehicles by factoring in cost and the success of each vehicle.

The gateway to technology class is one of two semester-long classes available to eighth-graders. She said hers is more hands-on, and the other deals more with computer programs. She said one of her goals is to get students to understand that there are many types of engineers, not just older men wearing thick glasses.

“There’s all kinds of different engineers, and careers available to them,” she said.



lindsay.jones@flyergroup.com