My 8th grade students have been busy designing and engineering projects to explore the concepts they are learning in class. This year they have made tissue paper hot air balloons to explore Gas Laws and density, insulated coolers to explore methods to decrease heat transfer, solar cookers to explore properties of heat transfer as well as utilizing renewable energy, and an egg drop to explore Newton's Laws, gravity, and air resistance. It has been exciting to see my students planning out their projects and redesigning them when things don't turn out the way they planned. The Egg Drop Project results were excellent! 5th Hour's projects were all successful! So many eggs' lives were saved! All together, for both 8th grade classes, there were only 2 eggs that did not successfully survive the drop and one of the groups were able to tweak their design to be successful on the 2nd drop. Way to go! On the left are pictures of the Egg Drop and the right are pictures of the solar ovens.
There are so many cool things that happen in Ecology and we don't have enough year left to see everything I would like you to see. Check out these links to learn more about what we are learning in class!
The KidWind Challenge is a competition where teams design and build a working wind turbine that can generate power. This Friday the Panther Wind Team, comprised of Thomas H., Truman H., and Reece B., competed in the Kid Wind Energy Challenge in the 4-8 grade division at Manhattan, Kansas. Teams were judged based on the following criteria: - Energy Produced (35% of score) - Turbine Design (30%) - Written Documentation of Design (20%) - Knowledge of Wind Energy Subject Matter (15%) Wind Tunnel Test: Each team had two sixty second trials in the wind tunnel. The turbines were connected to energy sensors which collected data on the amount of power generated. Panther Wind's Turbine generated 9,497 milliwatts earning them 1st place in the power output for their division in that category. Presentation of Design: Each team was judged on the last three criteria during their interview and presentation. Teams presented and defended their wind turbine design to the three judges explaining their trial and error process. The Panther Wind Team used a Google Slides Presentation and their turbine to communicate their ideas to the judges. They received many compliments on their innovation, because of their use of legos as a gear box. The judges were also very surprised that the Styrofoam plates they had used were effective as blades. Results: Panther Wind 1st place!!!! The team would like to thank Mr. Bloustine for giving them a budget for supplies and Mrs. Brownlee for letting them borrow legos and utilize the 3 D printers. Newspaper Article Link: Middle School Students Earn First Place at Wind Competition |
Shari HudgeonsPaola Middle School Science teacher Archives
December 2020
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