Last Friday, on March 22nd, students and teachers at Mildred Ave K-8 School visited Northeastern University for the first time. About 50 eighth grade students split up into three classrooms to learn all about Catapults, Reverse Egg Drops and Earthquakes.
In the Catapults section, students learned about projectile motion and accuracy and precision. They then were provided popsicle sticks, a rubber band and a lot of duct tape to construct their own catapult. Each team had a chance to test their catapult by launching skittles at a target and scoring points based on how accurate their catapults were.
In the Reverse Egg Drop section, students learned all about the brain and how it is essential to protect it. By demonstrating the similarities between the brain and eggs, students were given “$100” to purchase materials like materials like paper plates, cardboard, cotton balls, balloon, etc. They then set out to build a contraption to protect the egg from a tall drop. Each contraption was then put to the test as we dropped egg from 7ft above and see if it would remain intact. Good success rate for this field trip: over 50% of the eggs survived (only 1 egg bounced out!). Seen to the right was a very good design, using the very thin straws we find are almost never used or used well: the crosshatching pattern was helpful in catching the egg/bag the egg was within.
In the Earthquake Lab section, students had a chance to visit Northeastern University’s shake table. There students were tasked to build two story tall building that were put to the test. As the shake table moved, the students were excited to watch as their buildings swayed, shake and fall apart.
Thank you to the teachers and students of Mildred Ave K-8 School for coming to Northeastern University. We hope you all had a blast during this field trip!
