The Bulldog Plumbing Challenge at RMS
In Dave Crawley’s Design and Modeling Project Lead the Way class at Rotolo Middle School, students are getting exposure to the field of plumbing through a hands-on project with a real plumbing company!
Doug and Jamie Saam, Batavia Chamber of Commerce members and owners of Batavia, Ill.-based Bulldog Plumbing, are working with RMS students in Design and Modeling on a design challenge created by Mr. Crawley. In the first class, Mr. Saam, a licensed plumber, gave students an overview of the plumbing profession for perspective and awareness before diving into the challenge.
For the challenge, teams of students were each given a “design brief” to install PVC piping through three cardboard walls to test creativity, measuring, and construction skills.
According to the design statement in the brief, each team must ‘design, build, and test a PVC pipe layout that will pass through as many of the holes on each of the three cardboard walls that will allow a marble to travel from one end of the pipe layout system to the other.”
Sounds easy, right? Wrong.
Students were given the following criteria and constraints, which added a few wrinkles:
- Your marble will be put in the pipe at one end of the pipe system and emerge from the other and drop into a plastic tub on the floor.
- Your pipe system must pass through all three cardboard sheets.
- Each hole your pipe passes through will be worth 10 points on the scoring system.
- Your pipe may go through a piece of cardboard multiple times.
- Your team will have 20 feet of half-inch PVC pipe in two ten-foot lengths.
- The maximum length of a single piece of the pipe can’t exceed six feet.
- Your team will have 24 90-degree elbows
- Your team will have 12 45-degree elbows.
Yikes!
Throughout this design process, Doug and Jamie Saam are helping students think through it. Each elbow selection and PVC cut has consequences, so planning is key. The ultimate winner will be the team with a pipe system that scores the most points.
Bringing in professionals like the Saams to the classroom is something that will be happening more and more at BPS101 with a partnership recently created with the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.
“We are looking to the Batavia Chamber of Commerce to help us provide career awareness, authentic experiences, and real-world connections to students,” said BPS101 Chief Academic Officer Dr. Brad Newkirk. “Their members can add so much value to our curriculum at all grade levels.”
Special thanks to the Saams for being part of this RMS experience and sharing their knowledge of the plumbing industry.
For more information about the BPS101 and Batavia Chamber of Commerce partnership, and how you can share your career knowledge with students, click here.
