Sixth grade STEM students create AFO prototypes
Mrs. Hill’s sixth grade STEM classes completed a design project where they designed and built an ankle foot orthosis (AFO) prototype.
Students created prototypes designed for a child with spastic hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy. Dr. Tim Shelton, MD, a psychiatrist and interventional pain specialist, visited the class to share about real-world orthotics used for this type of cerebral palsy.
Students were allotted an imaginary $20 budget to spend on the materials, and they created the prototype from recycled materials. This challenged them to be resourceful when selecting materials and to not be wasteful in their creation of the model.
“The most difficult part of the project was the amount of money we had to spend on items and making sure everyone in our group agreed on everything,” reflected team members Emily Chai ‘29, Celia Little ‘29, and Saige Rowe ‘29.
Way to go, STEM students, on using your creativity, knowledge, and problem-solving skills to complete these prototypes.
