Physics of Play

Our fall expedition asked the essential question:  What are the physics behind play?  We went to Mountain View Park and came up with unique questions around the playground equipment and returned to conduct them after writing up our experiments.  We returned to the classroom and studied Newton’s laws and forces (focusing on physical forces).  Students then selected different apparati from Mountain View Park to diagram and explain the physics behind playing on them.  Through multiple upon multiple artistic revisions, our crew designed drawings of high quality. Through multiple writing revisions, we authored explanations to inform and entertain.  In our first culmination of the project, we presented our design in front of the Moscow Parks and Recreation Commission and were accepted.  As we went through just one more revision process, we awaited another meeting to get final approval to commission the sign.  If you’re reading this now, you probably haven’t spent the last two months under a rock, so you know our second culmination is waiting until the Commission meetings occur once again …

Dam Project

Our spring expedition studies the challenges and needs for survival of the steelhead.  One case study allows students to read various articles, explore web sites, and watch videos about the impacts of the 4 lower Snake River dams on the lives of steelhead/salmon and people.  We got to hear from advocates and experts who represented different points of view on whether to breach, partially breach, or not breach the dams.  Students were asked to make an educated opinion breaching the dams and support that opinion with the most important details from what they heard/read.  Finally, they used a medium (poster, slide show, video, any other of their choosing) to convince others that their opinion was the most logical.