Building a Prosthetic Arm

Topic: In this team-based, hands-on activity, students will design, build, and test a prosthetic arm that meets a customer’s needs.

Time: This activity typically takes 180 minutes to complete and should be conducted in one session. 

Materials:

• Pre-Activity Leader Checklist

• Tell My Story Form

• Computer with projector, speakers, and Internet access

• Video: Manufacturing Contact Lenses (Johnson & Johnson)

• Video: Inside Ford’s Moving Assembly Line (Ford Motor Company)

• PowerPoint: Building a Prosthetic Arm

• Student Handout: Building a Prosthetic Arm Challenge, 1 per student

• Student Handout: Bill of Materials (BOM) Form, 2 per team

• Student Handout: Criteria for Acceptance of Design, 1 per team

• Three 16 oz. water bottles, filled with the following amounts of water: empty, ½ full, and full

• Prosthetic Arm Kit, 1 set of the following items per team of five students:

  • 1 box cutter

  • 1 glue gun

  • 2 glue sticks

  • 1 pair of scissors

  • 1 pencil

  • 1 piece of cardboard (minimum 3 ft. x 2 ft. and thin enough for students to cut with box cutters)

  • 1 piece of string (3 ft. long)

  • 1 piece of Velcro (1 ft. long)

  • 1 ruler

  • 1 sharpie marker

  • 1 sheet of stickers for decoration, optional

  • 2 straws

  • 1 wooden skewer

  • 1 water bottle (16 oz.)

• Additional materials that can be “purchased” by teams.

  • 5 box cutters

  • 5 glue guns

  • 20 glue sticks

  • 5 pairs of scissors

  • 15 pencils

  • 15 pieces of string (each 3 ft. long)

  • 15 pieces of Velcro (each 1 ft. long)

  • 5 rulers

  • 5 sharpie markers

  • 15 sheets of stickers for decoration, optional

  • 40 straws

  • 45 wooden skewers

Cost: Activity leaders can expect to incur less than $60 (excluding optional items) in materials costs when completing this activity with 20 students organized into teams of five students.