New Web Site!
Aug 3rd, 2010 by Mark Goldner
Solar Cooker Project
Jun 9th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
** The 2010 Solar Cooker Summaries can be found by clicking here
**Pictures from our first Solar Cooker test on June 8, 2010
Click here for the CBS Early Show interview with Chris Kimball about Solar Cookers. (Can you spot and explain the scientific error in Chris Kimball’s explanation of how “Greenhouse Cookers” work?)
For more information, a great resource for solar cooking ideas and information is the Solar Cooking Archive.
**Click here for the Student-created pages from the 2009 Solar Cook-Off!**
Click here for pictures from the ’08 competition.
Click here for pictures from the ’07 competition.
Earthquake Resistant Structure Project
Apr 28th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
In this project we investigated two case studies (Haiti 2010 and Loma Prieta 1989) and explored the different ways that buildings fail in an earthquake. Then we went about designing and testing different structures, culminating in our Final Structures. Below you will see video analysis of the 4 stages of this project.
Phase 1 – Designing and Building a Water Tower
Link to Video Analysis Blog Posts for Water Towers
Phase 2 – Designing and Building a Wood Frame Structure:
Link to Video Analysis Blog Posts for Wood Frame Structures
Phase 3 – Designing and Building a Masonry Structure:
Link to Video Analysis Blog Posts for Masonry Structures
Phase 4 – FINAL DESIGN!
Wind Turbine Mental Models
May 11th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
Using the white boards, draw your “mental model” of how you think a wind turbine works. Be sure to include how you think the air interacts with the turbine blades making them turn.
Choose one variable that you have tested (or that you observed someone else test). Show, in your mental model, how this variable affects the efficiency of the turbine.
Photograph your mental model and upload it to the blog – create a new blog post with your group and insert the image. Along with the image, create a 3-5 sentence caption explaining your ideas.
Massachusetts Forests Over Time – 7X
May 27th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
How has the change in the amount of Forest in Massachusetts affected animal species?
The graph below shows how the populations of different species (the “abundance”) in Massachusetts have changed between 1600 and 2000. Click on the graph to enlarge it.
(from “Reflections on Bullough’s Pond” by Diana Muir)
Create a “reply” below where you analyze this graph.
- What is your “claim” about how the changes in the amount of forest in Massachusetts have affected different animal species?
- What important “evidence” can you point to from this graph to justify this claim?
Your reply should be 5-7 sentences only.
Massachusetts Forest Over Time – 7Y
May 27th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
How has the change in the amount of Forest in Massachusetts affected animal species?
The graph below shows how the populations of different species (the “abundance”) in Massachusetts have changed between 1600 and 2000. Click on the graph to enlarge it.
(from “Reflections on Bullough’s Pond” by Diana Muir)
Create a “reply” below where you analyze this graph.
- What is your “claim” about how the changes in the amount of forest in Massachusetts have affected different animal species?
- What important “evidence” can you point to from this graph to justify this claim?
Your reply should be 5-7 sentences only.
Creature Feature Project
May 28th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
How will animals evolve over the next 50 million years? We are exploring this question by studying specific animals and predicting their future evolution. (Click here for the “Creature Feature” Article Checklist)
(Click here to see examples from past years “Creature Feature” projects)
First, we need to know how the Earth will look differently in the future. How will plate tectonics cause the map to change, and how will these changes cause the climate to change? Then we’ll need to explore how these changes will affect the habitat of our animal?
Plate Tectonics Map (click to enlarge):
Dougal Dixon’s vision of the Earth 50 million years from now (click to enlarge):
Next we explored how the habitat of our animal will change, and then how our animal will evolve.
Click here for a great website with common Latin and Greek roots for naming organisms.
Longer Strides Article ~ Lindsay M
Sep 27th, 2010 by lindsaymo
My original prediction was that it didn’t matter how long your stride length is, it matters how fast and athletic you are. I had some evidence to back it up as well; my soccer team had to get times on a 40 meter sprint. People were all over with some one with really long strides being last and a girl who had very short strides being second to last. So I thought my prediction was accurate.
The experiment that I did was having 2 people first ran 10 paces so that we could see the distance they ran in the 10 paces and then divide it by 10 to get there stride lengths. WE then had them ran a 90 meter race three times. From there we dived th
-
- In my experiment i had three speeds of the person who ran and one average speed that you can see by the graph. As shown above most people had near the same stride lenght and ran near the same speeds.
e distance ov
er their time to find out the speed of each time they ran. Then we found t
he average of the three speeds. That was their speed.
Solar Cooker Project
Jun 9th, 2010 by Mark Goldner
aidan,dmitry,austin solar cooker project
Jun 9th, 2010 by aidanle
Solar Cooker Design Summary- Ricardo & John
Jun 9th, 2010 by ricardodi
Solar Cooker Design
Jun 8th, 2010 by willhu
Solar Cooker Post- Natalie, Dan, Vince
Jun 8th, 2010 by nataliese
Solar Cooker Design Summary- Isobel, Nicole L, and Sarah
Jun 8th, 2010 by nicolele2
Solar Cooker ~ Ari, Matt, Desmond
Jun 8th, 2010 by arika
