Last Post for the Year!

We are now at the end of the 2013-2014 school year.  I say this every year, but it has gone by fast.

As I have said previously, the EoC for all engineering classes is required per our contract with PLTW.  You will not be eligible to exempt.  However, I am moving it up to this Thursday and Friday.  You should finish your review before Thursday so that you are well prepared.

• You will be given a formula packet (9 pages) that has any formulas that you need on it.  It covers all of the engineering courses that we offer, including much of what we used in CEA (storm runoff, beam formulas, etc.).  
• Beyond formulas, you are allowed one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper with notes and information that you have handwritten on one side.  I would not waste any space on formulas because of the point above, but steps to working out some of the problems might be nice.  
• The test is in two parts, each with a 40 minute time limit, and both parts are 100% computer-based. There is no written portion or Revit example to do.  
• The test will be used as our final exam, and it is what qualifies you for college credit through Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Tyler, and other colleges.  

Don't forget to submit your Comercial Project Portfolio to me. Those were due last week!

Week of May 6

Several students will be out on any given class day due to  AP testing (some sophomores, but mostly juniors and seniors).  Students are working on the commercial project this week.  Wrap up the Revit design and site plan.  Next week, we will start a bit of a review by calculating runoff and beam calculations for our designed building.

We don't have very much new material left in this year.  It has certainly gone fast.  Two weeks from now, we will start thinking about preparing for the final exams, and then finals are May 28-31.  The final for CEA is the End of Course exam that is required by Project Lead the Way for all students.  There will be no exemptions for exams in engineering for the spring semester.  

The good news is that, if you do well in the course and the exam, you will get a letter from me over the summer stating that you have earned the right to get college credit through Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Tyler, or Texas A&M-Kingsville.  In some cases, those credits can be transferred to another school as a transfer credit.  Check with whichever school you may be interested in applying to see how they will handle it.  You would have to pay the school that is granting you the credit, so you need to decide if it is worth it or not for you.  

The final exam schedule has been released. Be sure to clear up all obligations and get your exemption forms turned in by the deadlines.

Finally, we will be starting an engineering club at RRHS next fall.  Five of our current students attended a summit with the other RRISD schools last week and are anxious to begin working on it.  If you are interested, let me know so that we can notify you right at the start of school (if not before) next year to get it moving quickly.  

I am finished with morning duty for the year, so I should be available most mornings and afternoons through the remainder of the year.  Also, the last Late Start and WOW for this year will be May 22 & 23, so the schedule for the next 2 weeks should be normal.

If you are interested in the Aerospace class that we will have next year, I started the blog for it already.  Yeah.  I'm a little excited about that one.  :-)  I will post updates over the summer for those who signed up to take the class next year.