Greetings everyone! I wanted to report to all of you of something new I had
done with my physics students. Last week, when the Ohio Proficiency exams
were taking place and for much of the week my teaching schedule was very
chaotic...I decided to do something a little different. I had my students
make their own solar hot-air balloons. It took up much of the week and the
other day, we were able to take them out and fly a few of them.
Most of the student opted for the tubed shaped balloons because it is faster
to make, but some took on the challenge of making the "traditional" hot-air
balloon shape. The advantage with the traditional shape was that we could
use a small hair dryer to inflate it and have it fly up in the gym.
We've had limited success with the tube balloons. The biggest problem are
the winds. A nice, sunny, calm wind day in Ohio may only occur once or
twice in the year. :) So now we are just waiting for such a day.
If anyone is interested on making them...just email me directly
(crvhs_dks@crestview-richland.k12.oh.us) and I'll send you the plans I used
(written in MicroSoft Word).