Summary
From drinking fountains at playgrounds, water systems in homes, and working bathrooms at schools to hydraulic bridges and levee systems, fluid mechanics are an essential part of daily life. Fluid mechanics, the study of how forces are applied to fluids, is outlined in this unit as a sequence of two lessons and three corresponding activities. The first lesson provides a basic introduction to Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle and Bernoulli's principle and presents fundamental definitions, equations and problems to solve with students, as well as engineering applications. The second lesson provides a basic introduction to above-ground storage tanks, their pervasive use in the Houston Ship Channel, and different types of storage tank failure in major storms and hurricanes. The unit concludes with students applying what they have learned to determine the stability of individual above-ground storage tanks given specific storm conditions so they can analyze their stability in changing storm conditions, followed by a project to design their own storage tanks to address the issues of uplift, displacement and buckling in storm conditions.Engineering Connection
Physics and fluid mechanics are integral parts of engineering, and both are typically presented as required courses at most universities for most engineering majors. Engineers apply Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle and Bernoulli's principle to design and construct various floating vessels, submersibles, airplanes, automobiles, pipelines and transport systems, hydraulic structures and even petrochemical storage tanks. Ocean and marine engineers study the offshore environment to design oil rigs and production platforms as well as floating vessels and subsea pipeline systems needed in the oil production process. Other engineers design different types of submersibles and remotely operated vehicles used to explore deep-water environments. Still other engineers apply these scientific concepts to become specialists in hydraulics—the use of liquid power to do work—and they design heavy machinery, water distribution systems, sewage networks, storm water management systems, bridges, dams, channels, canals and levees.
Unit Overview
Overview of topics by lesson: 1) Archimedes' principle, Pascal's law, Bernoulli's principle, 2) the concepts covered in the first lesson applied to the use and failure of above-ground storage tanks in the Houston Ship Channel.
Educational Standards
Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science,
technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.
All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN),
a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).
In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics;
within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.
Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.
All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).
In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.
See individual lessons and activities for standards alignment.
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Day 1 – Archimedes' Principle (lesson 1)
Day 2 – Pascal's Law (lesson 1)
Day 3 – Bernoulli's Principle (lesson 1)
Day 4 – Buoyancy & Pressure in Fluids: Soda Bottle Cartesian Diver activity
Day 5 – Rock and Boat: Density, Buoyancy & Archimedes’ Principle activity
(optional additional activity) – A Shot Under Pressure activity (120 minutes)
Day 6 – Above-Ground Storage Tanks in the Houston Ship Channel (lesson 2)
Days 7-10 – Students use class time to work on Above-Ground Storage Tank Design Project activity
Day 11 – Student presentations
More Curriculum Like This
Students are introduced to Pascal's law, Archimedes' principle and Bernoulli's principle. Fundamental definitions, equations, practice problems and engineering applications are supplied.
Students are provided with an introduction to above-ground storage tanks, specifically how and why they are used in the Houston Ship Channel. Students learn how the concepts of Archimedes' principle and Pascal's law act out in the form of the uplifting and buckling seen in the damaged and destroyed ...
In this culminating activity, student groups act as engineering design teams to derive equations to determine the stability of specific above-ground storage tank scenarios with given tank specifications and liquid contents. With their flotation analyses completed and the stability determined, studen...
Students learn about the fundamental concepts important to fluid power, which includes both pneumatic (gas) and hydraulic (liquid) systems.
Copyright
© 2014 by Regents of the University of Colorado; original © 2013 University of HoustonContributors
Emily Sappington, Mila TaylorSupporting Program
National Science Foundation GK-12 and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Programs, University of HoustonAcknowledgements
This digital library content was developed by the University of Houston's College of Engineering, based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under GK-12 grant no. DGE 0840889. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Last modified: February 17, 2018
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