Integrating Power Engineering into Middle and High School Math Curriculums

Electricity is the most popular form of energy because it can be transported with ease at high efficiencies and sensible cost. It is often taken for granted, but when looked at as a single machine, the North American power grid is an incredibly efficient, safe, and robust system. 1,2 Integration of this topic into K-12 curriculums helps students understand the world they live in, see math applied to real-world problems, and brings a much needed engineering element into the classroom. As part of a NSF Graduate STEM Fellows (K-12) program, 7 th grade math students had a graduate electrical engineer visit multiple times a week to integrate power engineering into the classroom. The IMPACT LA (Improving Minority Partnerships and Access through CISErelated Teaching) NSF GK-12 Program works with underrepresented minority students in the East Los Angeles Area. This paper presents five original or modified classroom activities that have been used in 7 th grade pre-algebra. Activities, their engineering connection, the curriculum connection, and impact on students’ understanding of engineering will be presented. In the final portions of the paper, preand post-survey data will be presented to show the impact that the IMPACT LA program and these activities had on the students.