Camilla Sorensen

Emily Bridge
Heather Combs
EDCI 270: Case 2
The Mechanical Hand

Overview

This lesson will give students a hands on way to learn about

how human anatomy and technology can be incorporated.
The students have previously learned about the anatomy and
physiology of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments associate
with the hand; specifically opening and closing the hand. The
students will then be guided, step by step, through the
process of assembling a mechanical hand.

Description of Learners,
Environment, Learning
Goals, and Lesson Content

These learners are fifth graders participating in College

Mentors for Kids here at Purdue University. There are twenty
students in the group. These students have previously studied
anatomy extensively. The class had an interest in the hand
specifically, so extensive research and study has gone into
this area.
The lesson will take place in one of the EPIC classrooms in
the basement of Armstrong. These classrooms are very
informal areas with many workspaces. They are filled with all
sorts of tubing, piping, string, rope, glue, nails, etc. that the
students will need to complete the tasks.
The students will use these materials to produce a mechanical
hand capable of opening and closing. They will then be able
to explain how the mechanics relate to the anatomical
structures in a hand.

Learning Objectives

Standards

Given the materials, students will be able to

produce a mechanical hand that has the ability to open
and close, within 30-45 minutes.
Given a mechanical hand, students will be able
to describe its relation to the anatomy of a human
hand with the assistance of group members, without
error.
Given a cup, the mechanical hand the students
created should be able to pick up and hold the cup, for
five seconds.
5.4.1 Investigate technologies that mimic
human or animal musculoskeletal systems in order to
meet a need.
5.4.2 Investigate the purpose of prototypes
and models when designing a solution to a problem

and how limitations in cost and design features might

affect their construction.

5.4.3 Design solutions to problems in the

context of musculoskeletal body systems. Using
suitable tools, techniques and materials, draw or build
a prototype or model of a proposed design.

Required Materials

Procedures

Tubing
String
Tape
Sharp knife
Hot glue-gun
Marker/ pen
CD-cover
Plastic or wooden clothes hanger

Show students one or two videos

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppILwXwsMng &
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMHvziAikok on the
second video, keep the video muted and stop at 1:20)
on robotic hands and explain that because they
learned about the mechanisms of body parts
previously they will now build a simplified version of
these hands.
Students will get into groups of four.
One student in each group traces his/her hand
on a piece of paper, marking where every joint is

located. This will be the template for the mechanical

hand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=N3WolGwHlAc&feature=youtu.be Here is a video
exampling teaching the steps so far.
Students will then cut the black tubing
approximately a hand length. Make five of these.

 Students should then mark the joints of the

fingers and use the marks to know where to cut a Vshape in the tubing. Mentors should be checking the
angle of the bend their buddies created so that it
matches how a persons fingers would flex. The
mentors will then cut out the V-shape with the sharp

knife to avoid injury.

Student will then insert the string into the
tubes.They should be using a few feet per finger. Then
they will tie a few knots at the end and secure all of the
strings with tape.

 At the other end, the side of the wrist, pull and

tape the string.
Then the students will snap off a piece of
plastic from an old CD-cover. Next students cut it to

size and power up the glue gun.

Glue the fingers to the plastic strip below the
knuckle joints. Students can probably do this, however
if they need help mentors will gladly do this part.
Depending on the diameter of the tubing, the kids
might want to tape the fingers before gluing the thumb

in place.

 Next, students will remove the tape from the

wrist-end of the tubes and insert them in a foot or so of

tubing.
The children should then attach another piece
of the CD-cover to the wrist. Then they will glue it all

together leaving an inch for the string.

Students need to make a brace to hold the
strings for the pulley. A plastic clothes hanger will be
bended into a square by taping and gluing the pieces
together.

 Students, with the help of their buddy mentors,

will then tie loops for all fingers. The hand should now

function to open and close.

Now is a good time for the mentors and
buddies to establish the correlations between the
mechanical parts and the anatomic parts of the hand
with the visual of the functional mechanical hand
present.
Assessment

The students will be assessed on their ability to produce a

functional hand that has the capacity to open and close. They
will also be judged on their capability to properly identify and
describe the relation between the mechanical hand and the
muscles of a human hand. The hand the students made

should be able to grasp and pick up a cup and hold it for five
seconds as well.

References

Simple Animatronics. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2015, from

http://m.instructables.com/id/Simple-Animatronics-robotichand/
Indiana's Academic Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24,
2015, from
http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/standards/science/201
0-Science-Grade05.pdf
Man Controls Robotic Hand with Mind. (2009). Rome.
Retrieved March 24,2015, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppILwXwsMng
Amazing Robotic Hand. (2006). Retrieved March 24, 2015,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMHvziAikok
Sorensen, C., Bridge, E., & Combs, H. (2015, March 29).
Example Teaching for the Mechanical Hand. Retrieved March
30, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=N3WolGwHlAc&feature=youtu.be

b.)
When we considered a STEM lesson plan we decided that we wanted to do an activity that was
science-based because we were more familiar with that topic. It is always important to look for
lesson plans from different sources, so this took our group in different directions as to what we
wanted to do. Heather researched the standards for fifth grade science while Camilla
and I looked at different activities on Google and Pinterest. We finally decided on the fun
process of creating a hand prototype. During the planning process we used the tool Lino. We
posted all of our ideas and sources on it so that we could keep track of the information that we
used. We found the procedures and materials on a website titled Simple Animatronic (found in
our reference list). Because this activity is so long and does not require a lot of technology, we

decided to watch one or two Youtube videos with the projector on examples of mechanical
hands right before the activity. We determined that the students had already had a lesson about
the way that body parts work and move so that we could use more time to build the hand.

c.)
Bissaker, K. (2014). Transforming STEM education in an innovative Australian school: The role
of teachers' and academics' professional partnerships. Theory Into Practice, 53(1), 5563. Retrieved March 30, 2015.

This article is about using interdisciplinary curriculum in order to create a better STEM
education for students. Meaning that different subjects/classes should coordinate with each
other to create a more expanded education across subjects. This relates to our lesson plan
because we are incorporating two different subjects in order to complete the project. Students
need to have a knowledge of human anatomy as well as knowledge of technology to create the
mechanical hand. Because we are incorporating the two subjects, it is more of an
interdisciplinary education.

Brown, J. (2011, December 1). Science and Technology Educators' Enacted Curriculum: Areas
of Possible Collaboration for an Integrative STEM Approach in Public Schools.
Technology and Engineering Teacher, 30-34. Retrieved March 29, 2015.

This article describes the need for collaboration between science and technology
teachers and how they can partner with each other to create better content for their students.
The article also explains how science and technology teachers can create and enhance
partnerships by utilizing the strengths of each of their disciplines. Integration between the STEM
disciplines is a good strengthen and build better lesson plans. That is why this group was able

to integrate the ideas of this article into our lesson plan by collaborating technology and science,
specifically anatomy, to create a better overall learning experience.