NASA Camp

We've spent the week as engineers! Students were engaged in activities that explored balance, motion, and magnetism. They have really enjoyed themselves, and the teachers sure have had fun along with them!

Betsy designed a magnetic car that moved with the magnitism of a paperclip.  We were impressd with her exploration of magnets.  She was very proud of her moving car!

Here are a few photos of students designing roller coaster tracks and preforming trial runs. We simulated roller coaster tracks using pool noodles and a coaster car using a marble.

 

Friday was by far the favorite day as we designed, tested, and shared our marshmallow catapults. We even had many students who accurately hit our target! We used simple materials to design our catapults: a rubberband, one plastic spoon, and geoblocks. 

Students were able to make their own decisions about which block to use (some tried a block and later switched it for something different).  They used the materials to design a catapult all of their own.  We were all different in our execution of the catapult. 

Of course, we had to test our designs with a real target.  The class acted as the audience while each student tried testing out their design.