This past week, our 5th graders worked with Ms. Sauerhoff on their seismometers for Science class. 

Project Description:
"Ever since people first became curious about earthquakes, they have tried to design some kind of seismograph to measure their intensity and magnitude. In this lab you will have the opportunity to make one by yourself or with a partner."

"Goals: Think of a creative but effective way to measure the seismic waves (shock waves) from an earthquake. Your seismometer must be: 

1. made of common inexpensive materials found in a local store or the science classroom; 
   
2. able to determine the relative magnitude (size) of each vibration it measures;
   
3. able to measure vibrations continuously for at least 30 seconds;
   
4. able to measure even slight vibrations from a shake table."
   

Students spent the first two days doing research about seismographs and developing an initial design. After submitting a materials list and receiving approval for design, students began construction on their seismometers on day three. 

With PIRL Terrace open and supervised, students started construction of their seismometers. While in years past this project involved students working on their projects primarily from home, the new learning space provided access to a more diverse selection of tools and materials, allowing students to expand their thinking and be more creative. They also fed off of each others' design elements. Having the space and time to test out their models on the shake table encouraged further iteration in design. 

Still to come is a formal testing period with data collection, along with a reflection and evaluation piece about the final design. Here are some pics of students at work.

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.

After two months sitting in PIRL Terrace, the laser cutter got its first run. We purchased a 5th generation Full Spectrum Hobby Laser due to the good reviews and decent price for an entry level laser cutter.  As this was my first experience with technology of this type, I really didn't know what to expect. The initial set up was fairly pain free, but there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle beyond the cutter. I was a bit nervous while making sure the air compressor, the water pump and 5-gallon bucket, and the exhaust fan/hose were all set up correctly. I used BoxMaker online to download a test design of an interlocking box. You can see the results below. I added the two holes on top for pencils.

The students continued their work on individual projects this week. We were able to meet three days, so some work was done in Creator's Studio, while one day was spent in PIRL Terrace. The projects are really coming along now. Boe-Bot robots advance on their Arduino sketches. Boats are assembled using laser cut prototypes designed in Apple's Pages application, of all things. An Arduino driven RC Car is tested with new sketches. Light cube sides are sanded and boards are wired. An LED watch assembly receives the soldering of its components. Trebuchet pieces are drilled, cut and sanded.

Photo credits - Reynaldo Macias, 10-25-2013