Welcome to the high school! I am so excited to have you in my class this year! We are going to have LOTS of fun exploring and learning about physics!!
In order for you to start the year ready to go, I have put together a small summer assignment for you to complete. This assignment has 3 parts--a written component, a project, and a video project. All of these assignments will be due on the first day of class, Wednesday, August 1st. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me--and I will do my best to get back in touch with you as quickly as possible. Don't wait until the night before to start--that causes way too much stress on you, when that is completely avoidable.
Part 1--Written Component
This portion of your summer assignment will consist of completing this Algebra review packet. I am intending for this to be a refresher of the math skills you should have coming into this class--if you find yourself really struggling throughout the entire packet, then we need to talk.
Part 2--Project Component "Egg-citing Car Design"
This portion of your summer assignment will consist of constructing a car that will protect your passenger (an egg) from the harms of an impact crash. The project handout explains your project and car specifications. The last page of the project handout is the score sheet that we will complete on the first day of school.
Part 3--Video Component
This portion of your summer assignment will consist of making a video that demonstrates all of the stages of the car designing process and the connection to the real-world. This file needs to be submitted by August 1st. You can submit it by either sharing it with me through your school Google Drive, e-mailing the file to shawn.boggs@bardstown.kyschools.us or burn it to a CD and bring it to either Open House on July 30th or the first day of class.
Your video needs to contain the following information (loosely based on the Engineering Design Cycle we will use throughout the year):
- Initial Design Phase (1st design model--even if it was a failure!!) in action
- Re-Design ideas--along with why you think these changes will make your car better than before
- 2nd Design Phase in action
- An explanation of the following concepts in terms of your "car"
Crashworthiness--how well a vehicle can protect its occupant in a crash. Note that this does not mean the car itself needs to remain undamaged after a crash.
Resilience--how much energy (impact) an object can absorb
Mass--how much matter is in an object. The more mass, the faster the car will collect kinetic energy (speed) as it rolls downhill. This is a real-world example of one of Newton's Laws of Motion.
Momentum--the force that keeps an object in motion. Object with more mass have more momentum. In other words, a heavy car moving at the same speed as a light car will be much harder to stop (think of travel trailers versus your family car). Heavy cars will quickly accumulate momentum, which results in higher speeds, but also greater impact.
- Using the terms listed above and the principles behind the concept of motion and forces, compare to vehicles (on camera) that can either be your family's vehicle and/or that of a friend and discuss how they stack up in terms of the vocabulary concepts listed above.
- Lastly, end with a discussion of how the information that you have learned in this project relates to the automotive industry and how these concepts play a role in decision-making process when buying a vehicle.