Tyler Love, director of Penn State Harrisburg’s Capital Area Institute for Mathematics and Science (CAIMS), received requests from local teachers about participating in the Go Baby Go initiative.
Local students from Middletown Area High School and Mechanicsburg Middle School volunteered their time after school, implementing the engineering design process to modify the cars, which came in kits they had to build, to be safer and more user friendly for the children.
Students designed the structure [of the cars] to keep the children safe within the vehicle on their own using PVC pipe, kickboard, and other materials.
Final modifications and customizations were made for each child before they took them home.
The national initiative ‘Go Baby Go’ provides modified ride-on cars to young children with disabilities so they can move around more independently.
During Penn State Harrisburg’s “We Are Weekend” festivities in October, children and their families came to campus to receive their vehicles and test drive them before taking them home.
The group built cars for five children to keep this year, and an additional car will be kept at the College of Medicine to help recruit children for future builds and get an idea of what modifications the cars would need.
Faculty from the college’s teacher education – including CAIMS – and kinesiology programs assisted students as they developed their car designs and had questions.
‘Go Baby Go’ is part of the Engineering byDesign curriculum from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA), which is used by many Pennsylvania schools. The curriculum provides standards-aligned, project-based integrative STEM learning experiences that help students develop authentic problem-solving skills.
‘Go Baby Go’ was founded by Professor Cole Galloway at the University of Delaware, and researchers, including at Penn State, have now trained volunteers in more than 40 communities nationally and internationally with satellite sites. The project aims to provide accessible and inexpensive solutions for kids with limited mobility.
The group built cars for five children to keep this year, and an additional car will be kept at the College of Medicine to help recruit children for future builds and get an idea of what modifications the cars would need.
‘Go Baby Go’ is part of the Engineering byDesign curriculum from the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA), which is used by many Pennsylvania schools. The curriculum provides standards-aligned, project-based integrative STEM learning experiences that help students develop authentic problem-solving skills.
Love said that they would love to double the number of cars built next year and provide cars to more children. He added that they also would want to involve students from more middle and high schools in the region, as well as provide the option for Penn State Harrisburg students to participate in the build phase.
Students worked on implementing the engineering design process to modify the cars, which came in kits they had to build, to be safer and more user friendly for the children.
"‘Go Baby Go’ provides an authentic engineering design challenge for middle and high school students, who must develop a design that will meet the specific needs of each child," said Love, shown here instructing a group of students.
