Students will work on projects related to the following topics: 

(*Daily coursework available on google classroom site as well*) 

6th Grade: Renewable Energy

- Students will compare and contrast how fossil fuels and renewable energy applications such as wind turbines and solar panels generate electricity. Classes will construct and test miniature wind turbines and solar power cars during the laboratory class sessions. 

7th Grade: Forces- Catapults and Earthquakes

- Students will review the general laws of physics, and research how the forces of tension and torsion are used in the construction of catapults. Classes will then construct mangonels, trebuchets, or ballistas and test their projects over several lab sessions. Throughout the 2nd unit, students will study the effect that earthquakes have upon sky-scrapers. Basic earth-science along with principles of architecture and construction will be the core of study serving as a pre-cursor to the laboratory assignments. Throughout the lab sessions students will construct basswood towers that will be tested on an earthquake simulator.   

8th Grade: Robotics and the Science of Speed 

Throughout the 1st unit of study, students will research the history, applications, and terminology related to the field of robotics. In the spirit of STEAM the laboratory assignment will draw from several fields of study including, art, cartography, history, engineering, mathematics, and computer science. Lab groups will construct and code robots to move on 5' by 5' maps to illustrate movement from a particular time period in history.  Students will research the physics of speed in the second unit of study. Classes will study the basic princples of aerodynamics and how they relate to race cars. Students will then construct race cars out of balsa-wood, test the drag coefficent in a wind tunnel, and then race the cars on a 50 foot track.  

 Mr. Currie and Mr. Gray testing a wind turbine