On Saturday, December 15, 2007, the STEP students met at 1201 Lakeside to learn about physics and engineering. After a hearty breakfast, the students gathered to learn about Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. First, they were given the tour handout that described the physics and engineering concepts to be covered during the day’s workshop. Emily Anderson, from MWH, led a review session of the Guaranteed A + Plus program that the students had participated in last month. She asked them to create a bullet list of the first three pages of the handouts. This was great review and helped the students prepare for the day’s activities. Next, Sven Wiberg from MWH led the discussion on the laws of motion. The students learned that Newton’s First Law states that an object will continue to do what it’s doing unless acted upon by a FORCE. The second law states that net force is equal to the mass of the object times its acceleration (F = ma). Finally, the third law states that for every action (force applied) there is an equal and opposite reaction (equal force applied in the opposite direction). They also learned about different types of forces as well as about velocity, acceleration, and momentum.
All of this was in preparation for the Egg Drop Contest! The students were asked to bring containers that would protect an egg from breaking when dropped from a great height, say 3-5 stories. Students were spilt into groups and each group made its way up first to the third floor. All containers with eggs were dropped from this height. Students on the ground recorded the time it took the container to reach the ground then they checked the egg to see if it had “survived.” All containers that passed the third floor, that is, the egg did not break, proceeded to the fourth floor. All containers that passed the fourth floor, then proceeded to the fifth floor! After all had been dropped, five containers made it through all five floors! That was narrowed down to the top three based on weight of containers, the lightest winning! The students and staff alike had a great time with the contest. Students with the winning containers were proud of their accomplishment while students whose container failed were already brainstorming on how they could improve their containers to withstand the drop!
After the Egg Drop Contest, Mr. Wiberg talked to the students about a team project in which they would participate. He talked to them about the different forces, stresses and loads that buildings undergo and how structures spread out those forces, stresses and loads. Each team was given newspaper tubes and given instructions on how to build a structure. Each team worked hard to follow directions, understand the directions, and work together to accomplish this task. As they proceeded, each team’s structure began to take shape...a geodesic dome! This proved to be a great learning and team-building exercise. The students were very proud of what they had accomplished.
After the domes were built, the students enjoyed a special lunch and holiday party.
On behalf of the STEP staff, we wish all students and parents a happy holiday season. SEE YOU IN 2008!
