This past week Mr. Cowman's 8th grade science classes participated in the annual Physics Project. Groups of students are tasked with designing a Rube Goldberg-esque device that demonstrates a minimum of seven concepts in physics (force, speed, acceleration, velocity, momentum, etc). 

From the project guidelines: "The project must start with a ball rolling down some kind of a track, but it may switch to other types of objects and designs as long as the physics concepts are illustrated." 

Students can use a variety of materials including wood, plastic tubing, peg board, metal railings and more. The project should be self-supporting, and reliable, requiring multiple trials. In addition to covering physics concepts, students are evaluated on creativity and elaborate design.

This year's projects included water pouring tea-pots, exploding toy cars, match-sticks lit by triggers, and the ever popular Mentos in soda bursts. I've chosen to include this science activity in my course blog because of the impact our new spaces have had on the project build day. While in years past students could work outdoors and share a limited number of tools, this year they had access to miter saws, a drill press, a laser cutter, and a variety of hand-held power tools. PIRL Terrace served as a workshop and toolshed, with students and teachers buzzing about like a colony of bees hard at work on the hive. There seemed to be no lull in the build day, as students stopped only for short breaks or to grab a slice of pizza. 

After a day and a half of building, the 8th graders showcased their work to students in the other grade levels, along with faculty and parents. While not all of the marbles found their proper destination 100% of the time, the amount of time, effort and energy that students put into the process of designing, building, and iterating was clearly evident.

Thank you to Reynaldo Macias for photos and video. 

In the video below, students end the project with Mentos dropping into the bottle of soda. While the final step needed a little nudge, the explosion was wotth the wait!

As a quick follow up to my previous post, here are some photos of student projects in 7th grade history. The topic of study was inventions from Imperial China. As part of their project, students could build a replica of something invented during that period. Here are photos of three of those projects. The wooden stamps and Fu (Chinese axe) were designed in Illustrator and laser cut. The dragon head was downloaded from Thingiverse.com and 3D printed. It served as the headpiece for a wooden rowboat.

"If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people." Confucius

One of the benefits of starting any new program is, after planting a seed, observing how it grows. While we do have predetermined outcomes and expectations for this year's PIRL project to create new, innovative learning spaces for our students and teachers, it is incredible to see how once given the resources, our stakeholders branch out, generate ideas and create new, purposeful uses for the space and the tools.

Just before the winter break, two students approached me about working on a project in history. As part of their project, they need to design a dragon's head for printing in 3D that will become a centerpiece for their dragon boat. Another student in this same class hopes to build workable wooden stamps with Chinese characters. They are studying inventions of Imperial China. As I am currently without a teaching load, I see myself serving as coach or mentor during times such as these, working with small groups of students to enrich the quality of their projects in other classes.

Today, our first day back to school, two 7th grade students approached me about laser cutting the pieces necessary for a rocket launcher they are building in science. We quickly delved into a discussion about using Illustrator to design the parts, verified size limitations on the laser cutter, debated the ideal medium, a thin composite wood or balsa. One of these students participated in the fall Creator's Studio class, so his use of appropriate terminology was familiar, even fluent. This conversation simply would not have taken place a year ago.

In TLC today, a science teacher shared the idea of students using PIRL to design and build their seismometers as part of a unit on earthquakes and plate tectonics. In years past, the teacher would break out the materials and tools and find a safe place to work outside. Now, we can accommodate a project of this type in an environment built for this purpose.  Our 6th grade history teacher added that her Egypt and China unit involving the creation of some historical structure of student's choice (a pyramid, great wall, etc.) formerly completed at home, can now be done on campus with students working collaboratively in PIRL. We even discussed the option of using Minecraft as a creative venue, albeit with virtual structures. 

Thus we begin the second half of this school year with new energy and fresh ideas, stemming from the original seeds planted in the fall.

"Plant the seed, water it to give nourishment, stand back and marvel at what comes." Umekubo