Week 1 Year 2

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dresses in overalls and looks like work.

- Thomas A. Edison

I have returned for my second year in the RETE (Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering) and am so excited to learn new things that I can bring back to my classroom in Allenstown, NH. This past school year I was able to implement a couple of lessons that incorporated my RETE project from last year. The students were so engaged and enthusiastic when they were able to connect the lessons to the real world I wanted to learn more!

These are the big ovens in the lab used for heating up the asphalt before it is compacted.
 

The compactor in the lab used to make the specimen to be tested.

This year my mentor professor is Dr. Jo Daniel who works with asphalt. There are many different project going on in the lab this summer with focus on recycled material or (RAP). They are using different percents of recycled material and doing tests on them that include changes in temperature and loading rates. My project this summer will be slightly different than that. There are standard temperatures and load rates that are tested on the various specimen to produce a master curve. My project is going to be to collect data from a bunch of different data points to see if less or different points could be used.

Asphalt samples in the lab.

The first week here was a fun and exciting! Every morning we met as a RETE group to discuss inquiry. We talked bout things such as when do students stop being curious or do they as well as the importance of students having a toolbox of facts to pull from. It is great to have some math teachers participating in the program this year! I loved hearing some of their ideas for inquiry in the classroom. 

The first set I made!

In the afternoons I was able to get started on the research project. The first day I met with Dr. Daniel and the grad student I will be working with this summer, Dave, to discuss my project and introduce me to what they do. On day two I immediately started making my samples. I went through the process for compacting and checked for air in my specimen. Next week I will be cutting and coring!

Weighing the specimen after it has been in water.

Taking the weight while submerged in water.

Left over asphalt in the lab.