Seismic Outreach
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Unlike our other projects, Seismic Outreach does not have a final competition, but it is just as fun! One of ASCE’s most central values is empowering the community through engagement and investment in civil engineering education – one essential way we can do this is through outreach to students and young engineers. In the spring of 2014, with the help of students from UCSD, we formed Seismic Outreach to do just that: introduce and teach civil engineering to local Los Angeles students through hands-on construction activities.
We all believe that a good learning environment has to be thought-provoking, interactive, and, importantly, a lot of fun! We kept these important factors in mind when we brought this program to UCLA. In Seismic Outreach, we visit hundreds of students from various elementary and middle schools in the LA area to work through an engaging building project using K’NEX pieces. After several in-school visits from UCLA volunteers, we invite them to UCLA for a day filled with touring, presenting, and testing their structures on the UCLA Engineering shake table! Our program visits a different school each quarter – each Finale Day is a colorful playground in which all students can show their creativity and further their experience within the structural, architectural, and economical aspects of civil engineering. |
UCLA Seismic Outreach and 100+ of our friends from Paul Revere Middle School
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We have weekly meetings to plan the various events within the Seismic Outreach program. We mainly discuss the logistics of the program and ways that we can better this fun curriculum for the participating students through presentations in line with educational standards and fun activities. In the beginning of each quarter, we also have several work days where we travel to the participating schools to introduce students to building structures with K’NEX pieces. Lastly, we plan for the Finale event by finding a location and creating an engaging schedule of activities for the students.
We encourage parents and teachers to collaborate with us and help each other empower our youth community through this program. Schools frequently share with us how much of an impact this wonderful program has on their students each year. Please contact us if you are interested in supporting our vision |
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Let us know if you would like to participate in this program with your students. We would also love to have sponsors! As it stands, we currently self-provide all the materials and equipment, which include hundreds of K'NEX pieces, decorative supplies, and the shake table, amongst many other items. If you can help us get these supplies and fund the program, please contact our Project Manager, Evan Ballow.
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