Starting an after school program for middle school students interested in cars...

[abodywantedinmi]

Hey all

I am going to be starting an after school program for middle school students interested in cars. It will include all brands (with a MoPar slant I suppose) and I am looking for ideas on what to "teach".

Ideas I have are identifying cars, general car maintenace, car searching/buying, part searching/buying, cars in music/film, using car forums and when the weather gets better (it'll be crappy here soon) I will invite local car owners to drive to the school to "show-off" their cars.

Any other suggestions?? Funding is incredibly limited. The community I teach in has a car show that is scheduled near the end of the school year and I will be encouraging them to attend.

Thanks!!
(I posted on FABO and FEBO as well...no General Mopar section on FBBO?)

 

[Meep-Meep]

Since our type of cars are typically out of reach for the young kids (or any car for that matter) I would start by identification of the different models. If they see an old car going down the road and take notice I'm sure they will want to show off to their buddies that they know all about it. The film ID idea is good too. Don't forget to teach the HEMI superiority factor :headbang: and how nearly every thing created in drag racing was the result of Chrysler engineers (Ramchargers). Lots of cool history there.

 

[shorty64]

Hi Petoskey,

Sounds like a great idea. You'll have your hands full cuz that age will always surprise you no matter what you think they'll like or want to know.

Both my folks were teachers and I've done a similar thing a time or two as well.

A different kind of slant might be to cleverly work in aspects that reinforce why math, science, spelling, manners, patience, etc are all a part of car culture; in addition to the evolution, looks, utility, performance, etc.

Aspects include:
- keeping an eye on mpg & oil usage to watch for signs of an issue-
- then list a variety of problems:
- fuel injectors/carb issues
- gas in the oil
- dirty air filter
- etc

- types of considerations by the engineers, marketers, designers:
- size, weight, power needed, cost of gas, maintenance, electrical loads from all the gadgets, speakers & placement for high end sound systems, interior effect on the sound systems, existing gov't laws to be in compliance with (such as emissions and stopping distances), .....
..... you get the idea.

- corresponding career fields:
art/drawing/graphic design
various types of engineering; electr, mech, autom, chem, ....
sales & marketing
purchasing and cost analysis
computer aided design (CAD)
energy transfer/crash safety-compliance
etc, etc, etc

- provides tie-in to math, science, arts, ....
- even, literature, spelling, grammar, writing....
- ie, owner's manuals, service manuals, technician training, ....

of course historic vs contemporary comparisons:
- horse and buggy, prairie schooners, bicycles,
- steam, electric, gas powered - to bio fuels
- only black, many colors, 2 & 3 tones, back to current mono color
- wood, brass, steel, leather, vinyl, plastics, ....

why so many types?
- micro, small, med, large, vans, SUV, 2x4, 4x4, AWD, ....
- customer demographics, economy, geographic locale, prestige,
sporty, performance, racing, ....
- US vs Europe vs Middle and Far East culture, needs, income,...

Anyway, I have a few college reference books from my 1974 Automotive Engrg Degree from Western Mich Univ and 34 yrs in the brake industry, plus some of the car culture stuff like Cars of the 50's, 60's, etc for large pictures and era commonality (chrome, fins, boxy, foward look, post WWII aero-look, etc) you might find useful. Also have a number of old car commercial DVDs that really help visualize the kids' parents' and grandparents' eras, what was being hyped ("lower, longer, wider", "fins like a jet plane").

The latter areas could lead to a fun exercise on all the various model names over the history. After exposing the info over time then have the class do a test based on connecting the names with the manufacturer, era, or ????

Also depicts the role model aspects of women starting to do more driving, (power seats, steering, braking, 2nd car), vs the ads noting how dad just picked out the new 195x Supermobile and brought it home to show the family.

Good luck, sounds like fun.

Randy Caulkins
Newaygo, MI

 

[abodywantedinmi]

Randy
Wow. Thanks for all that! Awesome ideas. Definitely provided me with food for thought. Heck, you pretty much have created some of the lesson plans for me. What's really crazy is I have a degree in Advertising and that part of car culture completely slipped my mind until you mentioned it. I know youtube has a number of vintage car commercials there.
Thanks!
Jamie

 

[scotts74birds]

As a Hot-Rodder, and ex-military, I like the team concept! Break the class into teams. Even the wallflowers will contribute in a smaller team atmosphere. In the Army we trained as teams, and learned about each other. In a semi-competitive atmosphere, you would be amazed at how they interact! Even the "geek" that nobody liked. In the smaller environment, he was given more credibility for the first time! These guys actually saw his different take on things and rallied around him as their team leader!

 

[shorty64]

You're welcome Petosky.

In fact, I stumbled across my favorite Automotive Engrg text book this afternoon while sorting stuff in the garage. My camping buddy had asked me what the "W" in oil viscosity was for (ie 20W-20) and I checked the index and went right to the explanation of the historic cold (W=Winter), and hot tests used to classify the oil viscosities.

Please do holler if it might be of help. Be glad to lend it to a good cause like yours. And we're not that far away from each other either.

I'ld even be glad to do a "guest speaker" bit to relate some semi truck brake basics and anecdotes from my 34 yrs in the brake business.

- Randy

 

[70Fish]

Great idea. I'd also add

- Recently made movies, music videos, TV shows, etc continuing to highlight these cars that we all love.
- The whole marketing scheme of winning on Sunday, and selling on Monday's, too.

 

[shorty64]

Boy, just movies would provide a ton of stuff:
- The Great Race
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- Bullitt
- Vanishing Point
- Crazy Mary and Dirty Larry (or whatever that was called)
- Duel (Dennis Weaver in a Duster? chased by the tank truck)
- The Fast and Furious Series
- Death Race
- Redline
- various Elvis & 60's teen movies
- American Graffiti
- Gone In 60 Seconds
- The Yellow Rolls Royce
- The Herbie Love Bug series
- Batman Movies

Oh, I've also got some other car specific books you might want to borrow for ref, digital pics for a slideshow, etc.
- Cars of the 50's
- Cars of the 60's
- Muscle
- Muscle Cars
- Concept Cars (lotsa way out prototypes, artsy design tie-in, etc)
- Fifties Flashback (hot rods, magazines, ads, accessories, ...)
- Salvage Yard Treasures
- 35 Years of Chrysler Cars
- History of Oldsmobile
and others (plus the old TV ads on 4 or 5 DVDs)

Good luck boiling it all down to the right mix of stuff for your class's age group.

- Randy