The bridge is broken, but the brain that built it is strong

Congratulations to senior Natalie Eggens for her success at the 54th annual Engineering Fair on December 7, 2010 at the South Florida Fairgrounds. Held in conjunction with the Science Fair, this yearly contest is meant to introduce youth to the fun and challenges of civil engineering. For the competition, high school students bring bridges they previously built. Their bridges are strong, efficient, aesthetically pleasing and made of only balsa wood and glue. After the initial judging, each bridge is brought to “The Crusher,” where physics fans watch it tested to the breaking point with a hydraulic press. After crushing their entry, bridges are judged solely by “efficiency”.

THE CRUSHER – an hydraulic bridge tester at the 54th annual Engineering Fair held at the South Florida Fairgrounds on December 7, 2010.

Bridges are to be constructed according to standard specifications to create the most efficient structure. The total mass of the complete bridge must not exceed sixteen (16.0) grams at the time of check-in, and must be made from 3/32-inch square balsa wood and any commonly available glue may be used. To determine a bridge’s efficiency, the applied weight in pounds as shown on the tester is divided by the gram mass of the bridge (for example, a 12 gram bridge that carries only 24 lbs applied is judged more efficient than a 15 gram bridge that carries 50 lbs applied 12/24 = .50 vs. 15/50 = .30).

Natalie’s bridge is the best of this year’s Seminole Ridge students in Mr. Landstrom’s AP Physics B class. Weighing just 14.9 grams, her bridge supported 12.9 pounds before failure. Her bridge is broken, but her brilliant brains are still strong! Our school’s 2nd best bridge was build by senior Mark Blanar, which at 14 grams. This year’s Engineering Fair winner comes from Suncoast High, a bridge which held 65 pounds before breaking Seminole Ridge senior Natalie Eggens (left), and Mark Blanar (right) before at the SDPBC Engineering Fair on December 7, 2010 at the South Florida Fairgrounds.

Fizzix Funday 2010: Drop It, Launch It, Thrill It

Hawks Have ‘Fizzix Funday’ - physics students showcase their science skills

Seminole Ridge HS physics students showcased their skills Wednesday, November 17, 2010 testing their “Fizzix Funday” research projects. Students chose to either ‘Drop It,’ ‘Launch It,’ or ‘Thrill It’ creating the ideal container to protect an egg from a seven-story drop, blasting off the ultimate water bottle rocket, or building the best roller coaster model. President Obama remarked in 2009 speech at the National Academy of Sciences, "I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it's science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent -- to be makers of things, not just consumers of things." Physics teacher Erich Landstrom listened to the President, and challenges his students to design, construct, and compete.
Drop It Launch It Thrill It

The Fizzix Funday began with ‘Drop It.’ The Palm Beach County Fire Department assisted in testing for the most efficient package to protect a raw large chicken egg from cracking after a seventy foot free fall from the ladder of the fire truck.

Congratulations to Arnold Banner, whose container creation weight was just 13 grams! Arnold Banner

At 11 AM, the students began ‘Launch It,’ aiming for a projectile put together around an ordinary 2 liter plastic soda bottle and fired using compressed air at 60 psi and 12 ounces of water with the greatest air aloft “hang time” launched by compressed air and water.
Congratulations to Yiro Shimabukuro and Moegamat Peck, whose “This Side Up” was airborne for 8.0 seconds! Yiro and Mo

After lunch, the students finished big with ‘Build It,’ creating a coaster with the longest ride time to go from the Start position to the Finish (with bonus points for loops and attraction). Thrill Coasters
Congratulations to Mark Blanar and Joseph Pavicic, whose “Collision Course” kept rolling along for an average of twenty two seconds! Mark Blanar and Joseph Pavicic

Fizzix Funday 2010

Fizzix Funday 2010

Seminole Ridge physics students showcase their STEM skills on Wednesday, November 17, 2010.

Erich Landstrom’s physics student will test their “Fizzix Funday” research projects to either “Drop It,” “Launch It,” or “Thrill It” – by creating the ideal container to protect an egg from a 3-story drop, building the best roller coaster model, or blasting off the ultimate water bottle rocket.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is increasingly being appreciated as the key to assuring that America cultivates a new generation of experts as well, with the skills to create the new green technologies we need to strengthen our economy in the 21st Century. Science and technology are responsible for a very large portion of America’s economic growth over the past 50 years. And scientists and engineers today are in the best position to solve many of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and the world.

8:30 – 10:30 AM - drop it: design the lightest package to protect a raw egg from cracking after a five-story free fall; (schedule subject to change)

11 AM – 1 PM launch it: put a projectile with the greatest air aloft “hang time” launched by compressed air and water.

1 PM – 3 PM - thrill it: create a coaster with the longest ride time to go from the Start position to the Finish (with bonus points for loops and attraction)

Watch the Fizzix Funday 2008 video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTjmPmzkg7U
See the Fizzix Funday 2009 fotos at
http://seminolesecme.blogspot.com/2009/11/hawks-have-fizzix-funday.html

Thrill It

NASA Spacecraft Hurtles Toward Active Comet Hartley 2

NASA Science News for Oct. 15, 2010
NASA's Deep Impact/EPOXI spacecraft is hurtling toward Comet Hartley 2 for a breathtaking flyby on Nov. 4th. Mission scientists say all systems are go for a close encounter with one of the most active comets they've seen.

FULL STORY at
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/15oct_epoxi/

On How to Improve Our Schools

Adapted from The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch (Basic Books, 2010).

What can we do to improve schools and education? Plenty.

We must first of all have a vision of what good education is. We should have goals that are worth striving for. Everyone involved in educating children should ask themselves why we educate. What is a well-educated person? What knowledge is of most worth? What do we hope for when we send our children to school? What do we want them to learn and accomplish by the time they graduate from school?

Certainly we want them to be able to read and write and be numerate. But that is not enough. We want to prepare them for a useful life. We want them to be able to think for themselves when they are out in the world on their own. We want them to have good character and to make sound decisions about their life, their work, and their health. We want them to face life’s joys and travails with courage and humor. We hope that they will be kind and compassionate in their dealings with others. We want them to have a sense of justice and fairness. We want them to understand our nation and our world and the challenges we face. We want them to be active, responsible citizens, prepared to think issues through carefully, to listen to differing views, and to reach decisions rationally. We want them to learn science and mathematics so they understand the problems of modern life and participate in finding solutions. We want them to enjoy the rich artistic and cultural heritage of our society and other societies.

If these are our goals, the current narrow, utilitarian focus of our national testing regime is not sufficient to reach any of them. Indeed, to the extent that we make the testing regime our master, we may see our true goals recede farther and farther into the distance. By our current methods, we may be training (not educating) a generation of children who are repelled by learning, thinking that it means only drudgery, worksheets, test preparation, and test-taking.

Our nation’s commitment to provide universal, free public education has been a crucial element in the successful assimilation of millions of immigrants and in the ability of generations of Americans to improve their lives. As we seek to reform our schools, we must take care to do no harm. In fact, we must take care to make our public schools once again the pride of our nation. To the extent that we strengthen them, we strengthen our democracy.