The second week of our Weather Warriors academy ended this Friday. We began, on Tuesday, by introducing the concept of bridges. Students learned about various types of bridges, supports, and load transfers. The students were challenged to create their own bridges using tinfoil, popsicle sticks, and other household items in order to build the strongest structure (Being able to hold the most weight). The students were able to create strong bridges by incorporating triangular supports and combining the materials to support thousands of grams in weight.
The second lesson of the week started with a recap of the first, as well as an introduction of new concepts: catapults, potential energy, kinetic energy, and flight. The students learned about the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy in catapults and applied such knowledge by participating in a catapult construction challenge. In addition, students were introduced to basic physics equations, a sneak peek to their high school physics course in the coming years. The students were tasked with designing and constructing a catapult that would launch a projectile that could collide with and destroy a possible “meteor” that was threatening the safety of the earth. The teamwork between students helped them combine and expand ideas that eventually led to their success. We would also like to congratulate “Among-Us-Not-Among-Us” for winning the challenge and building the strongest and most accurate catapult. As a whole, we saw a great use and implementation of introductory physics and energy skills by the students and they should all be proud of their hard work!
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