SHPE Foundation 2014 Noche de Ciencias Activity Training

1. SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasActivity Training Hands-on Activities: *Watercraft *Action-Reaction Rockets Carleigh Samson TeachEngineering Editor University of Colorado Boulder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_ship http://iswsyria.blogspot.com/2013/09/russian-ships-track-us-navy-movements.html/

2. General Advice SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Be prepared! Do each activity beforehand • Make sure all materials are available • Keep students on task • Follow the time frame • Be flexible • Have Fun!! http://www.orbital.com/Multimedia/Images/MissileDefense/

3. SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training Activity: Watercraft • Engineering focus: • Full Engineering Design Process: brainstorm, design, test, evaluate, redesign, etc. • Learning objectives: • Design and build a boat out of straws and plastic wrap that can hold 25 pennies for at least ten seconds before sinking. • Complete all the steps in the engineering design process, focusing on evaluation and redesign to optimize a design. Activity Source • Description: • Students design, build and test a boat, using minimal materials, able to float and support weight. They apply knowledge of buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle in their design. http://www.navsea.navy.mil/default.aspx

4. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Suggested time: 50 minutes • Suggested group size: 2-3 students/group • Materials: • Each group needs: • access to a container filled with water (bucket, sink, or plastic tub; 1 container for every 3 groups of students is recommended) • 1 foot of duct tape • 2 paper cup (8 oz or larger) • 10 inch strip of plastic wrap • 10 straws • 25 pennies (or alternatively, 15 washers) • stopwatch (optional)

5. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training Engineering Connection (Real World Application): • NAVSEA (The Naval Sea Systems Command) engineers, builds and supports the U.S. Navy's fleet of ships. Many engineers, such as mechanical, electrical, nuclear, systems, computer, aerospace, ocean, chemical, environmental and industrial, are hired by NAVSEA, and many engineers work on actually designing, building, and testing the ships. • NAVSEA engineers use science and math knowledge, as well as creativity and ingenuity to create the best ships possible. • In this activity, tell your students that they will be working as engineers for NAVSEA! A current challenge in many areas of technology is to use minimal materials (reducing costs) to construct effective products. In this challenge, students have access to very few materials and must build a boat that can support weight and stay afloat.

6. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • In this activity, students act as real engineers by following the full engineering design process. • The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineering teams use to guide them as they solve problems. The design process is cyclical, meaning that engineers repeat the steps as many times as needed, making improvements along the way. • Two key themes of the engineering design process are teamwork and design. Encourage students to follow the steps of the design process to strengthen their understanding of open-ended design and emphasize creativity and practicality. Engineering Connection (Real World Application):

7. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training *Note: An object whose density is greater than that of the fluid tends to sink. If the object is either less dense than the liquid or is shaped appropriately (as in a boat), the force can keep the object afloat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy

8. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training Introduction: • Begin by telling students the challenge: • Design and build a boat out of straws and plastic wrap that can hold 25 pennies for at least ten seconds before sinking. • Ask students: • If you take two empty, capped soda bottles—one big and one small—and push them underwater, which one will be harder to keep down? (Answer: The big one) • Why? (Answer: Both bottles displace some water. The displaced water pushes back on the bottles. The upward push of the water on an object gets bigger as more water is displaced. The big bottle displaces more water than the small one does. So there’s more force pushing it up, and it floats better.) • Tell students that buoyancy is the term for describing the force pushing back up on the bottle. The more buoyancy something has, the higher it floats in the water. Discuss other vocabulary on the last slide. • Ask students: • How can you make a boat that’s very buoyant? (Answer: Make sure it displaces a lot of water.)

9. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Brainstorm and Design: • Show students the materials and ask: • What kind of boats can you make using these materials? • How can you design them to carry a heavy load? • How will you make a boat that floats well enough to support a heavy load without sinking? • Should your boat be a platform (raft, barge) or an open boat (rowboat, canoe)? • What’s the best way to make your boat waterproof? • How big do you need to make your boat to hold 25 pennies? • Have students brainstorm in small groups (2-3 students) and then ask students to share ideas as a class. After a few minutes, have students sketch their designs on a piece of paper or in their design notebooks.

10. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Build, Test, Evaluate & Redesign: • Build: Pass out materials to each group of students. Have students begin building their first boat design and test it in the container of water (sink, bucket, plastic tub). • Testing: Students should first place their boat in the water to see if it floats. Then they should add one penny at a time. If the boat is still afloat after the 25th penny is added, students should time how long their boat stays afloat (up to 1 minute). Remember the goal is for the boat to stay floating at least 10 seconds before sinking! • Evaluate: Students’ boats may not work as they hoped, especially during the first test! Encourage them to try to identify the problem (the boat leaks, doesn’t float, tips over, etc.). • Redesign: Once students identify a problem with their first design, have them redesign, rebuild, and retest their boat. Even if their boat meets the challenge, encourage students to build a better boat (for example: one that holds 50 pennies, one that uses half the materials as the first, or have a challenge for which boat stays afloat the longest with 25 pennies)

11. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Troubleshooting Tips: • Common Issues and suggestions for students: • Sinks easily: Increase buoyancy by making its interior space bigger (for example, making a very wide boat with high sides) or trap a lot of air in the straws, cups or frame used to build the boat. • The boat leaks: See if the straws are filling with water. If so, use tape to seal them. Also, check the plastic wrap. Press it tightly or use tape to form a watertight barrier. • The boat tips and takes on water: Make sure the weight is well distributed – spread it evenly across the bottom. Also, a boat can tip when the load is up high. Place the pennies in the lowest part of the boat. Or build a boat with a V-shaped (triangular) hull, which is generally a more stable design than a flat-bottomed boat. • The boat can’t support 25 pennies: Increase its buoyancy by increasing its size and depth.

12. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Wrap-up Discussion: • Have students talk about their designs and how they solved any problems that came up. Emphasize key themes in this challenge – buoyancy, designing ships and what real engineers at NAVSEA must go through, and the engineering design process. • Sample questions to lead the discussion: • What are some things that all the boats have in common? (Answer: They float by displacing water, are waterproof, stay upright when floating, and carry a load.) • Which held more pennies, a platform raft or a boat built over a frame? (Answer: Generally, a boat built over a frame will hold more pennies than a similar-sized platform of straw. Its hull displaces more water before starting to sink; it is therefore more buoyant.) • How did knowing about buoyancy influence the design of your boat? (Answer: In general, the more water that a boat displaces, the more weight it can support.) • Why do you think engineers use the engineering design process? (Answer: An iterative process of evaluating a design, learning from testing and redesigning allows for engineers to optimize the performance of their designs.)

13. Activity: Watercraft SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Questions??

14. SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets • Engineering focus: • Engineering Analysis: making predictions, taking measurements, making calculations, interpreting results • Learning objectives: • Explain practical applications of Newton’s Laws of Motion. • Use the model of the balloon to understand the different forces that act on the rocket • Collect data from the experiment and graph the results. Activity Source • Description: • Students construct a rocket from a balloon propelled along a guide string. They use this model to learn about Newton's three laws of motion, examining the effect of different forces on the motion of the rocket. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_(rocket_family)

15. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Suggested time: 45 minutes • Suggested group size: 4students/group • Materials: • Each group needs: • Plastic drinking straw • Plastic bag, about the size of an inflated balloon • Paper streamers • 25 ft. of fishing line (20-25g weight) or string (nylon, slippery works best) • Long, tube-shaped balloon • Tape measure or meter stick • Action-Reaction Worksheet! (shown on next two slides)

18. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training Engineering Connection (Real World Application): • Rockets and rocket-propelled flight has been in use for more than 2,000 years. People in ancient China used gunpowder to make fireworks and rockets. In the past 300 years, people have gained a scientific understanding of how rockets work. • Now, aerospace engineers use their understanding to make rockets fly farther, faster, higher and more accurately. Our understanding of how rockets work arises from Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of motion. It is important for engineers to understand Newton's laws because they not only describe how rockets work, they explain how everything that moves or stays still works! http://www.janes.com/article/32424/surface-navy-2014-raytheon-l-3-demonstrate-talon-in-ship-protection-role

19. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training Engineering Connection (Real World Application): • NAVSEA aerospace engineers design, build and test rockets that can be used by the US Navy. In order to do so, they must understand Newton’s Laws, as well as other science and math concepts, and work together as a team. http://www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/indianhead/codeE/main.aspx http://www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/indianhead/NewsStories/Reaching%20for%20a%20Perfect%20Success%20Rate.aspx http://www.navsea.navy.mil/nswc/porthueneme/visit/detachmentWhiteSands.aspx

20. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training http://www.dcmilitary.com/article/20130802/NEWS07/130809955/efforts-of-public-works-department-minimizes-damage-in-rocket-ignition http://nosint.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html

21. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Introduction: • Start with an in-class demonstration: • For example, have a student or the teacher stand on a skateboard and throw objects of various mass. Start with something very light (perhaps a paper ball), then a little heavier (maybe a basketball). If available, throw something even heavier, such as a medicine ball (Note: this could be dangerous; be very careful not to fall and don’t do this if you don’t feel comfortable!). What happens? • (Answer: The student or teacher rolls backwards on the skateboard. In fact, the person and the skateboard should roll back further if the mass of the object thrown increases. Note that this also depends on how hard the person is throwing the object.) • An alternate approach to this demonstration is to stand on a skateboard and push against the wall. Show how you are pushing forwards, but end up rolling backwards.

22. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Procedure: • Have students vote on which of Newton’s three laws of motion applies to the flight of rockets. Count the votes. (Answer: Trick question! All three laws apply!) Hand out a worksheet to each student. • Have each group of students do the following: Tape a drinking straw along the side of a plastic bag. Tape streamers along the open edge of the plastic bag. Thread the string through the straw. Tie each end of the string to a chair, and pull the chairs apart so that the string is taut. Position the bag at one end of the string, with the open end of the bag facing the chair. (see diagram below)

23. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Procedure: • Testing the rocket: Students blow up the balloon, put it into the bag, holding the balloon closed. Count down to zero and let go of the balloon… ZOOMM! • Have students decide on lengths for the blown up balloon that represent a “small”, a “medium” and a “large” balloon. Have them predict how far each size balloon will travel. Then have them test each size balloon three times, measuring the distance their balloon rocket traveled on the string. • Once they’ve finished testing, have students complete the worksheet, which includes answering questions about Newton’s Laws and graphing their collecting data from testing the rockets. • While waiting for other students to finish their worksheets, students with completed worksheets should compare their answers with their peers. • Once everyone is finished, review and discuss the worksheet answers with students.

24. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Troubleshooting Tips: • Be sure that students blow up their balloons to different sizes – small, medium and large – to compare the different magnitudes of reaction forces that are produced. • Thicker fishing line (20-50g) works best for this activity. Next best is nylon string. Rough string or twine creates too much friction for the balloon to travel as far. • The string should be pulled taut for the balloon rocket launch. A slack string does not allow the balloon to travel as far. • This activity can also be done without the plastic bag by taping the straw directly to the balloon. In this case, use large round balloons instead of long balloons.

25. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Optional Activity Extensions: • Have the students fill up their balloons with water and repeat the experiment. Ask them why the balloon moved so slowly (if at all) and why. (Answer: Because the water is heavy, it takes more force to move water than air, and the water spills out of the balloon slowly (compared to air), therefore the reaction force is equally as slow as the action force.) Note: This is messy! It’s best if this is one outside. • Tape pennies to the outside of the rocket to increase the mass. How does increased mass affect the flight of the rocket? (Answer: Because of Newton's second law, the same force exerted upon a larger mass will result in a lower acceleration – the rocket will not go as far!) • Have students re-engineer their balloon rockets again, adding extra features to make the balloon go further. Allow them to use more straw and tape, and more than one balloon. Conduct a race to see which engineering team built the best balloon rocket. Ask that team to explain why their design worked as it did, in terms of Newton's three laws of motion. • Ask students to write a journal entry on how the balloon rocket experiment could relate to something else they've encountered. Why are Newton's laws of motion so important in our world?

26. Activity: Action-Reaction Rockets SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Optional Post-Assessment Questions: • What is inertia? (Answer: When an object is at rest or in a constant state of motion.) • How are action and reaction forces related? (Answer: They are equal.) • If acceleration = 6 m/s2 and mass = 6,254 g what is the force? (Answer: 37,524 Newtons [gm/s2].) • What would happen if you changed the direction of the force (i.e., the balloon blew out toward the floor)? Would the balloon travel a shorter distance, longer distance or the same? (Answer: The balloon would travel a shorter distance if it moves at all, because it would not be able to travel in the direction opposite the force.) • According to Newton's third law, how do you know that the action and reaction forces on the balloon are equal? (Answer: Because for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.) • What vocabulary word would best describe your experience when you are a "couch potato"? (Answer: Inertia.) • If an equal forces is applied to a Mini Cooper and a semi trailer truck, which will have greater acceleration? (Answer: A Mini Cooper, due to its smaller mass.) • What does acceleration depend on? (Answer: Mass and force.) • If you kick two balls that weigh the same, which ball will go further? (Answer: The ball that you kick harder.) • Does air have mass? (Answer: Yes. It can be measured on a scale.) • Does Newton's third law work horizontally? (Answer: No. Try it.) • When mass is multiplied by acceleration, what results? (Answer: Force.)

27. Activity Takeaways SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Teambuilding skills • Making decisions, sharing tasks and materials • Engineering skills • Engineering Design Process: design, build, test, evaluate, redesign, etc. • Engineering Analysis: making predictions, taking measurements, making calculations, interpreting results • Math/analysis skills • Finding averages • Relating numeric results with changes in design • Encouragement to be creative • Both activities encourage creativity in the design process • Motivation through having fun • Introduce activities as fun learning experiences! http://www.buckeyeaz.gov/index.aspx?nid=163

28. Contact Information SHPE Foundation2014 Noche de CienciasHands-On Activity Training • Carleigh Samson, TeachEngineering Editor • carleigh.samson@colorado.edu • 303.492.6950 • TeachEngineering: http://www.teachengineering.org/ • over 1,200 standards-based engineering lessons and activities • Be a Reviewer! http://www.teachengineering.org/want_to_review.php Questions? http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Stone_Lakes/FAQ.html/