MESA 4: Principles and Application of Electromagnetism

Course Overview

This course is designed to compliment the existing sequence of MESA courses as an extended offering for Junior and Senior level students taking an advanced laboratory science like Physics. The course is designed to continue and supplement these students' engineering instruction using more advanced scientific topics. In this course students apply principles of science and math, and the engineering design process towards developing projects related to various disciplines in engineering as they relate to concepts of electromagnetism. In this year-long college-preparatory course, students design and produce items like a magnetic train launcher and an electromagnetic-generator. They then apply their learnings to engage in an Arduino based project that solves a Human Centered Design problem using electromagnetism principles. By successfully completing the course students will be better prepared to succeed in college level science and engineering. Each unit introduces students to the real-world application of the these more advanced skills and principles and highlights and how they relate to possible careers in STEM fields. All units utilize the engineering design process and require students to keep an “Engineering Design Notebook” to document their thoughts processes, test data and provide insight into their process.

Course Pacing Guide

TANMS-MESA COURSE PACING GUIDE.pdf

Course Content

Unit 1: Fundamental Knowledge of Electricity and Magnetism

Folder A: Read Me Document (Overview)

Unit 2: Lorentz Force and Electric Motors

Folder B: Read Me Document (Overview)

Unit 3: Application of EM for Train Launcher

Folder C: Read Me Document (Overview)

Unit 4: Arduino-based Project

Folder C: Read Me Document (Overview)

For background and context information on the development and planning of this course, please view the presentation from the MESA Community of Practice.