Project Plans

Next week is the last before the holiday break. We're pretty much done with the current unit. So, today I caught up with the other teacher who teaches juniors, and we agreed to start the new unit after the holidays, and spend next week on extensions and reteaching other topics.

This gives me a great opportunity for another "fun project". I had in mind a miniature "automatic free-throw machine", using rubber bands or springs to launch a ball into a cup. It offers a lot of opportunities for good math content, and I definitely think it'll be worth doing, some time-- but for now, my students weren't really into that idea. In 1st period, one girl said, "We've been doing this thing with cars, so why don't we stay with cars?" A few minutes of discussion brought them around to this:

Build an obstacle course, including ramps and curves. Two radio controlled cars will race, as students keep time through different points on the course. Prizes for the fastest overall run, and the highest top speed (which will require some calculation of distance and time, unlike the "fastest overall")


Second period also wanted to stay with cars, but they have a different project in mind: Each group will build their own car, powered by an engine of their own design (some have ideas, already, for rubber-bands, balloons, or springs). Prizes for the car that goes furthest on a single "wind up" of the engine, for the fastest top speed, for the one that goes furthest up a steep ramp, and for the car that travels the straightest.


We'll see what 7th period comes up with, and I'll update this post then.