Greetings everyone,
We concluded our Yo-Yo Physics Unit this week. Over the past few weeks, we have learned about the similarities between pendulums and waves, as well as centripetal/centrifugal forces. The students performed admirably on our cumulative assessment, and all earned their yo-yo's to keep! We also had some fun with a "trick showcase" on Friday, and enjoyed checking out both our peers' skill AND their sense of humor.
We have also kicked off this year's Science Fair project which will be ongoing until February! The students developed a short list of 3-5 prospective projects, identifying questions, materials, and independent/dependent variables. PLEASE ask your students' about these projects. It's important that they take every opportunity to "talk them out" to ensure that they pick a topic which they will find engaging as well as feasible! We hope to make final project selections this week and move into the research phase.
Over the next few weeks, we will also be diving into our first ongoing design project of the year - the Toothpick Bridge! This is a fun (but intense) project which will have our group learning about tension, compression, stress/deformation and bridge design elements while they plan and create a bridge made from toothpicks and glue based on a common span template they will make in class. We will load-test them at the end and see how they perform!
Kudos both to Alex and Cannon for engaging masterclasses on the topics of Kerbal Space Program and the ups and downs of Formula One racing!
Lastly, please note that as it cools off, the need for layers is really important. Since we are so often outside, please remind students to dress for the full temperature range and weather of fall! Thanks and have a great week!