A
Aasritha Duriseti recently noticed her grandmother’s difficulty opening a bottle cap.Fortunately,she found a solution in her eighth-grade engineering class at Carson Middle School in Herndon,Virginia,whose assignment was to adapt existing products to make daily life easier for people with challenges.
Aasritha’s creativity kicked in as she researched existing bottle-opening devices.She used a piece of wood shaped like a cellphone and put three holes on it,each in different size and lined with a layer of dried,sticky hot glue,which provided firm grips(防滑力) for common bottle caps.With a simple twisting(拧) motion,her grandmother could open bottles without assistance.
“Students in the class used more than their math,physics and tool skills.They also learned to look at problems from another’s point of view,” said Teacher Mark Bolt.“Engineers need to put themselves in their product users’ shoes to build effective solutions.”
Other students in the class also showed sensitivity as they watched friends and family struggle with daily tasks.
Michael Kuwashima noticed how dyslexia—a reading disorder that the brain tends to confuse the order of numbers,letters and other images—made it difficult for a friend to follow along on pages full of text.Therefore,Michael created a small adjustable window-blind-style device.“My friend could isolate(分离) small sections of text while reading,” he said.
Arjan Garg focused on a different problem.Sometimes putting on clothes can be hard for people with a limited range of motion.Arjan created a “dressing stick” using four wood sticks of different sizes to fit different clothing.
The students tried different versions of their products along the way to make the best one to show the class.
Rather than require step-by-step directions for creating their projects,Bolt preferred to leave students’ creative paths open.“If we want to do better,we have to have a chance to fail,” he said.
1.Why did Aasritha create a new bottle-opening device?
A.She hoped to get a higher score.
B.She was interested in engineering.
C.She had difficulty opening bottle caps.
D.She wanted to help her grandmother.
2.What did students learn from the class?
A.Working with others.
B.Conducting field experiments.
C.Understanding others’ feelings.
D.Communicating with product users.
3.How did students finish their assignment?
A.With the aid of a guidebook.
B.Through trial and error.
C.With the help of classmates.
D.Under the detailed instructions.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.An inspiring class.
B.An excellent teacher.
C.Some scientific methods.
D.Some talented students.
