Peterson's Leaping Learners Experienced Mechanical Engineering!

John Menk, a mechanical engineer, came and presented to Mrs. Peterson's class the week before the winter holidays.  According to him, "I showed everyone how a mechanical engineer designs parts on the computer in 3D.  I used a powerful solid modeling program called Unigraphics, and I told the class how engineers can create large assemblies of parts on the screen before we make the real parts.  That way we can be sure that all the parts are the right size and shape and will fit together correctly.  This saves engineering companies time and money.  We also talked about how we use other computer programs to find out how fast these assemblies will vibrate (their natural frequencies) and when they will break.  In class today we made a Christmas tree with a star-pierced heart ornament on top."   Mrs. Peterson's third graders were amazed at what you can do with technology.  Way to go Learning Leapers!