During the summer orientation here at Shenandoah Valley
Gov School, our students compete in the toothpick and marshmallow
platform. Each student (or team) is given 25 toothpicks and 15 small
marshmallows (the ones that are the size of a marble). Use the
marshmallows to join the toothpicks together as primitive Tinker Toys.
The goal is to build a structure which supports the most weight
one-toothpick height off the table top. We use a plastic graduated
cylinder as the initial load and then add water slowly until failure.
Simply read off the volume of water as the student's score. The
activity takes about 30-40 minutes depending on the time allotted for
construction and judging. Attribution: the idea was stolen fair and
square from the Virginia Tech Engineering School. Note for
winner-wannabes: One student constructed a "platform" which consisted
of a top in the form of a star (five interlaced toothpicks), a bottom
which was also a star, and then a column of the remaining 15 toothpicks
connecting the points and the interior. The resulting platform held a 1
liter glass graduated cylinder and >1 liter of water (the biggest I had)
without failure.
On a longer term note, we have had engineering challenges like
the light challenge. Here are the original specs:
The standard:
A standard 3V light bulb will be powered by two new D cells. It
will be placed 2.5 cm from the light sensor for the PASCO interface box.
The entire apparatus will be set-up in the darkened tool room of the
Physics/Tech lab. The light sensor will read the incoming voltage for 5
minutes. The resulting area under the curve (voltage vs. Time) will
constitute a standard (100%) grade.
The problem:
You (and your group) are to design and implement a device which
will provide an equivalent amount (or better!) of light for five
minutes. Your grade will be the area under your curve/area under the
curve of the standard. Yes, you can score more 100%
The rules:
The lights in the tool room will be out and may not be turned
on.
No fireworks or explosives or flammables (and no candles!).
No commercial batteries or Genecon hand generators or light
sticks.
No lasers.
No external electrical source may be used.
Some suggestions:
You may construct or modify a generator/motor for use with a
light bulb or LED.
You may construct or modify solar cells for use with a light
bulb or LED.
(Warning: cloudy days are YOUR problem!)
You may construct a chemical battery for use with a light bulb
or LED.
You may construct a chemiluminescence cell (see Mr. Klein)
You may construct or modify a series of mirrors and lenses to
"transport" light from elsewhere.
You may construct a cold fusion cell for use with a light bulb.
The dates:
21 April Group CAD drawing of prototype
28 April Working prototype for test run and
sample data collection
5 May Final test and data acquisition
8 May Data analysis and design evaluation (lessons
learned)
I trust things are going well on the other side of the Blue Ridge. Give
me a buzz if you want some of the other challenges.
THO
Thomas O'Neill
o'neill@csvrgs.k12.va.us
Physics
oneill@csvrgs.k12.va.us
C Shenandoah Valley R Governor's School
-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Wayne [SMTP:wayne@PEN.K12.VA.US]
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 9:38 AM
To: PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu
Subject: Goal Oriented Physics Activities
At the end of the year I wanted to do a set of small, IN CLASS,
contests.
Some contests that I've done in the past I have incorporated as
labs. For
example, my projectile motion labs have students shoot a ball
out of a
spring launcher at a given angle off a table and have them place
a cup on
the floor where they think the ball will land. For an energy
lab, I have the
students bungie jump a weighted plastic egg from the ceiling
while trying to
adjust the cords length to get as close to the floor as
possible. These goal
oriented labs count less than "regular" labs because the
required write is
not as rigorous. The kids are very enthusiastic about these goal
oriented
labs.
Please share any ideas for other goal oriented labs or contests
for physics
students with the list [and me ;-)]
If anyone is interested in my Bungie jump lab, e-mail and I'll
reply with an
e-mail attachment containing a pdf file of my lab. You will need
Acrobat
Reader 4.0 to read the file.
-tony