This session the Middle and High School Eagles will be exploring the world of physics through classical mechanics. We have picked a simple machine, a mouse trap car, to help them explore this world. At the start of the session, they will establish and document a baseline of velocity, acceleration, and momentum of their cars. Each week they will modify their car to see how much faster they can make their cars by using the principles of physics:
Acceleration
Velocity
Mechanical Advantage
Hooke’s Law
Torque
Friction
Inertia
Potential, Kinetic, & Conservation Of Energy
Introduction to Free Body Diagrams
Newton’s Second Law Of Motion
At the start of the session, they will establish a baseline of velocity and acceleration of their cars. Each week they will modify their car and use the scientific method to help them document the changes and put it all together in a full lab report for this session’s writer’s workshop.
In addition to the above topics, the High School will be diving into the following topics
Moment Of Inertia
Static Vs Dynamic
Free Body Diagrams
Projectile Motion Work Vs Power
Calculating Center Of Gravity
There will also be an opportunity for High School Eagles to get an Honors Physics credit by doing additional assignments. In addition to the above, the Middle School and High School Eagles will be doing some experiments with golf balls, boards, bricks, clamps, etc to further explore the topics above.
