Wind Turbine Competition

Thursday Results
1B Dylan, Dante, Connor 1.0
Jaime 0.6
Johan 0.7
Rachel, Emily, Nicole, Gabby 1.1
Koan, Carter, Rion, Mason 0.5

3B
Chad, Anne, Taylor, Abby 0.6
Hannah, Kenia, Neva, Celina 1.0
Hunter, Maxx, Chase, Jordan 0.3
Devan, Zach, Nichole, Liam 0.8
Evelyn, Austin, Belize, Lauren 0.7
Elizabeth, Myra 0.2
Tanner, Nick, Brady, Riley 0.6

4B
Elsa, Anne, Rachael 0.5
Samantha, Mia, Maddie, McKenzi 0.4
Ethan, Morgan, Sam, Luke 0.9
Eliana, Joel, Donovyn 0.6
Devon, Angala, Caroline, Manzo 1.3
Michael, Talon, Zack 0.8
Hana, Kathleen 0.2

Today, you will begin constructing a wind turbine that generates mechanical energy. Your turbine should lift the most washers possible to the center of your turbine. Be sure to document your design in Pages with pictures and description, posting your process to your blog at the end of class.

Solar Oven Project

Bill Nye

I met Bill Nye at the Space Symposium this week.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

International Space Station Research

Research an implementation of alternative energy on the ISS.  Discuss and explain this technology on your blog.  Use some pictures, too!

-What are some important factors to consider about this technology?
-Why is alternative energy necessary?
-Can the device/technology store energy? Does it need to?
-How does this technology compare to the same technology used on Earth?

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Solar Water Heater Instruction

Solar Water Heater Project

The school wants to install solar water heaters. You must figure out what elements should be considered in their design. Use the materials provided to create a water heater, then test how well your design heats water. Record data from your testing.

EVERY STUDENT MUST CREATE a Keynote showing your plan, design, pictures and data. The Keynote must be original. I do not want four of the same from each group member! How affective is your product? Provide data from your testing and an explanation of how your design works.

Email a Keynote AND a letter to MSEF (they provided the grant money for this project) about what should be considered when building a solar water heater.

Alternative Energy Engineering Intro

We will start our unit with some research and role play surrounding a current topic of debate in Colorado: hydraulic fracturing.  Today, you will begin researching this process and will report on its pros and cons.  Towards the end of class, you will receive a "role" in our role play scenario.  We will debate and discuss the process later this week or next.

These are some questions to guide your initial research.  Be careful to use primary sources that are reliable and unbiased, or specify when you have found information that is interesting, but may not be accurate:

1.  What is hydraulic fracture and how is it performed?
2.  Describe a typical scenario of a family that is involved with hydraulic fracturing on their land and how (if at all) it is affecting them.
3.  Describe some basic pros and cons surrounding hydraulic fracture.
4.  What are policy makers (state and federal) saying about hydraulic fracture?  What about the EPA?
5.  What are gas companies saying about hydraulic fracture and citizen concerns around fracking?

Type your thoughts and research in a Pages document titled "Fracking Role Play".  This will be the start of your research.  You have 45 minutes to complete this portion of the assignment.

National Space Symposium Essay

If you would like to be considered to attend the National Space Symposium, you will need to write an essay about the following prompt:

In 2020, where would you like to see space exploration and why?

Email your response by the end of school on March 16th.  

Balloon Car Challenge

Your challenge is to build a balloon car that travels the farthest, carrying 5 pennies, on tile or carpet (we will try on both).  However, all good engineers need to consider cost when designing a project.  Each item that you use will have an associated "cost", even if you provide it yourself (see me for a cost on original materials).  You will have two class periods to build your design, and we will have a competition the week of March 5th.  Your final project must include the following:

1.  a completed, functioning balloon car
2.  a budget with a total cost for supplies
3.  a Keynote presentation or iMovie that "advertises" your design and its cost.  It must also describe how the car demonstrates EACH of the 3 laws of motion
4.  post the presentation/movie to Facebook or email it to me

Newton's Laws of Motion

You will create a movie or podcast showing, explaining or demonstrating Newton's 3 Laws of Motion.

Ideas:
-You could make a podcast like the "Element" podcast, that is mostly descriptive.
-You can make a movie where you film objects demonstrating each law.
-You can make a movie where you film yourselves demonstrating each law.

You will have two class periods to complete this assignment, before we begin working on our next design challenge.

The final movie is due by Feb 22nd in my inbox or on the FB group wall.

Terminal Velocity!

Gravity

Motion pHet Labs

Today, you are going to explore two virtual labs. Use the pdf that I emailed earlier to complete your assignment. Put your answers in Pages, and email your assignment at the end of class.

Forces and Motion:  http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/forces-and-motion
Projectiles:  http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/projectile-motion

REMEMBER:  Click the green "Run Now" button to use the tutorial.
 ----ALSO, you cannot use these tutorials on your iPad, because they require Flashplayer...use a computer for the virtual lab, but put your answers in Pages!

Motion Graphs and Inclined to Roll Lab

-You've received an email, today.  Open the attachment in iBooks and complete your work on graphing in a Pages document titled: "Motion Graphs and Inclined to Roll Lab"

-Inclined to Roll Lab

1.     Develop a question and hypothesis regarding how a car’s speed is affected by a hill’s angle.

2.     Collect the following: toy car, meter stick, protractor, tape, wooden board, small piece of cardboard, supports to prop up the board (like books), and a stopwatch (your iPad can function as a protractor and stopwatch).

3.     Mark a starting line, in tape, on your board.  Mark a finish line, in tape, on the floor about 1.5 m from the board.  Measure your total distance from starting to finish and record somewhere.

4.     Investigate your hypothesis!  Consider using multiple trials for accuracy!

5.     Record your data in Pages.

6.     Create a graph from your data.

-Answer the following questions for a conclusion:

1.     Which is your manipulated variable and which is your responding variable in this experiment?  Explain.

2.     Describe the relationship between the car’s speed and the angle of the ramp.  Give examples from your data.

3.     Describe any flaws or inaccuracies in your results.  Were your measurements of distance, angles and time accurate?  How might they be improved.

Classwork 1/18-1/19 & 1/20-1/23

1.  Doppler Effect Writing Prompt
    -Read pages 46-47
    -Create a pages document for today (subject heading as the date)
    -You hear the faint sound of a helicopter in the distance.  Describe what is happening as the sound approaches.
    -Would you hear a change in pitch if you are on a moving train and the train's whistle blows?  Explain.

2.  EMS movie
    -create a diagram of the Electromagnetic Spectrum
    -label each type of wave
    -include some type of picture/example of that electromagnetic energy
    -come up with an original mnemonic device to remember the order of the waves.

3.  Prisms and Spectroscopes
    -Experiment with the prisms and spectroscopes
    -Describe how this works and what you are seeing on today's Pages document

4.  Explain the following on your Pages document in AT LEAST 3 SENTENCES
    -Why/how do we see colors?
   -What if our eyes could see the entire electromagnetic spectrum?
    -Which type of wave is most important to you and why?