Using the six simple machines, design a contraption to pop a balloon.

- Your contraption must use all six simple machines twice.

- You must be creative.

- You must detail each of the steps involved in your contraption (i.e. “Step 1: A rock is rolled down a ramp…”)

- You must include calculations for velocity, acceleration, force, pressure, work and power in your contraption’s description.

This thought experiment is worth a total of 10 points.

Here’s your Homework for tonight (8.1, 8.2 and 8.3):

- 12.1 Section Review (p. 419) #1-5
- Simple Machines Quiz on material we reviewed today

Let me know if you have any questions!

Here are a few things we’ll be covering for the rest of our (sadly short) time left before you move on to the Upper School:

Forces
Title: Newton v Einstein
Unit Question: Who is right? Newton or Einstein?
Area of Interaction: Human Ingenuity
Culminating Task: Newton v Einstein Court Case
Assessment: Knowledge and Understanding (Criterion C)

Energy
Title: Knock ‘em Down
Unit Question: What does oatmeal have to do with bowling?
Area of Interaction: Health and Social Interaction
Culminating Task: Wii bowling tournament
Assessment: Communication in Science (Criterion B)

Work and Machines
Title: Archimedes’ Claw and the 1st Presbyterian Soup Kitchen
Unit Question: How can we use the works of Archimedes to help our work at the soup kitchen?
Area of Interaction: Community and Service
Culminating Task: Demonstration of simple machines and understanding of efficiency by moving items at the soup kitchen during Humanitas Day
Assessment: One World (Criterion A)

Waves
Title: Verse Chorus Verse
Unit Question: Do you study better in a well lit quiet room or a dark and noisy room? What about your earbuds?
Area of Interaction: Environments
Culminating Task: Collection of data related to personal or group study habits with reflection on personal preferences/needs based on science of light and sound.
Assessment: Processing Data (Criterion D)

Should be fun!

As you know, many of what are considered the greatest buildings in history (the Pyramids, the Colosseum, even the Washington Monument and the Capitol in Washington, D.C.) were built without the help of the massive machines we so often see around construction sites today.

Instead, these buildings were constructed using human sweat, power and ingenuity…and simple machines.

One example of an incredible building project that seemingly defies logic is the Parthenon. We’ll be studying how the Parthenon was constructed using simple physics and easy-to-construct machines and has stood the test of time.

Head over to PBS’ Nova site and learn more about the Parthenon if you’re interested (it’s worth your time!):

NOVA: Secrets of the Parthenon

I’ll try to dig out the pictures I took of the Parthenon and Acropolis when I visited the site while in college!