Community Partnerships Benefit Madison City STEM Students

Horizon Elementary students engaged with community partner Mazda Toyota

Manufacturing on a comprehensive force and motion unit aligned with Alabama's Course of Study standards for fifth grade (standards 5 and 6). This unit was designed collaboratively with all Madison City STEM teachers.

Eric Allen and Sydney Carr(not in photo) of Mazda Toyota Manufacturing mentors Horizon 5th grade STEM students

The unit began with foundational lessons on the principles of force and motion, allowing students to explore Newton’s laws and the role of gravity in real-world applications, specifically, the physics behind roller coasters.

 Working in collaborative teams, students applied their knowledge by designing and constructing paper roller coasters, testing them with marbles to observe the effects of force, motion, and energy transfer. With a solid understanding of these concepts, they transitioned to a hands-on engineering challenge focused on vehicle and passenger safety.

 In partnership with Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing (MTM), our STEM teachers developed lessons that guided students in designing safety features to protect a passenger (a hard-boiled egg) in a simulated head-on collision. MTM engineers refined our school's engineering process, integrating elements of their Kaizen method for continuous improvement. To deepen student understanding, the engineers gave a presentation on the evolution of automotive safety design, highlighting the rigorous processes behind modern safety innovations. 

Following this, they worked directly with students during the planning phase, providing feedback, asking thought-provoking questions, and challenging teams to refine their designs. Students then built, tested, and iterated on their safety features before a final round of testing with MTM engineers. 

Afterward, the engineers engaged each team in discussions about their designs, offering insights on improvements and real-world applications.

Through this experience, students gained a firsthand understanding of the design process used in engineering and manufacturing, reinforcing STEM concepts in a meaningful, real-world situation.

You can see some highlights of this partnership in this clip shared by MTM.

STEM Teacher Megan Gowan contributed to this article.