The project involves classroom work including background on place values and tolerance ranges. They ll learn to use calipers, micrometers and other measuring tools and study parts that have been milled. They ll learn to be quality control inspectors, taking measurements and comparing them to plans to determine if the parts will work. Then they ll take a field trip to ABC Gaines to see people using those tools. They know it s real, that we didn t make this up, Weaver said.
Students question whether they ll use the skills they re being taught.
If I can t answer it, maybe I ought to think about why we re teaching it. He showed Weaver the plant and explained the company s business as a job machine shop serving original equipment manufacturers. They discussed what Weaver could accomplish there, homing in on utilization of hand tools for inspection of parts and quality control. That way his students can go through the parts, separate the good from bad and have an understanding of compliance, Horton said. He added that, in the past, teachers have contacted him for student tours but this was the first time that one has taken a job skill and integrated it into the school curriculum.