Lawn mower makeovers: there is much to think about with our old friend the ubiquitous lawn mower, probably more than most people would initially imagine.(Classroom Challenge)

Publication: The Technology Teacher

Publication Date: 01-MAY-08

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COPYRIGHT 2008 International Technology Education Association

Lawn mowers are about as mundane as it gets, but lurking here are some pretty interesting problems and concerns for your students or teams of students to address. Challenge them to first understand how this technology came about, and then engage their creativity to redesign this common outdoor appliance.

Introduction

Today you can buy three basic types of lawn mowers for the home: gasoline, electric, and the old push-powered model (though they are getting hard to find and are now expensive). Gasoline models tend to dominate the market, especially for large lawns. So pervasive have these petroleum-based-fuel models become that some communities are quite concerned about the smelly and polluting exhaust they produce ... not to mention the noise ... and have regulations for these modern-day conveniences.

Electric mowers have made inroads in the market, often used where lawns are rather small, conditions do not permit the use of larger gas models, or where the storage of gasoline may be a problem....

Read the full article for free courtesy of your local library.