Earl Bakken Science Program - Day 2

Today we worked in the workshop on new challenges and tool training.

Morning
We started the day with a new challenge. Last week we worked on using levers as balances, exploring the dynamics of the relationship between weight and distance to the fulcrum. This week we used those levers to send small weights flying through the air as we turned our levers into catapults. Not only did we launch things into the air, but we used them to complete a circuit as they landed.

After much fun and success. We took time to learn how to properly use the tools in the workshop. We had training on how to solder, use saws, and proper drilling procedure. We finished two of the three, one more next week and we will be ready to start on our projects.


Afternoon
The Inventors and Investigators spent their afternoon figuring out how to hook up and control an elevator. The challenge was to hooked up the given elevators so that they could be turn on and could move both up and down with only two switches. Once they got that working, they then tried to sense the elevator with switches that were connect the Basic Stamp microcontroller.

Earl Bakken Science Program - Day 1

Today was the first day of the Earl Bakken Science Program. We had two session, the Explorers met this morning from 9 until 12 noon, the Inventors & Investigators met this afternoon from 1:30 to 4:00. During both sessions we worked on solving challenges that had to with simple machines.

Morning

Balance Beam Challenge - Try to balance 10 weights on the balance beam.

Battery Bulbs and Wires Activity - Working in groups, students are giving a bag of batteries, bulbs, wires, and other electrical stuff and they experiment. We explored switches, parallel and series circuits, and circuit diagrams.

Afternoon
Monument Mover Challenge - How do you move a very heavy 'monument' across a desert island. That was our challenge. We only had materials to make simple machines. We were able to use an incline plane, several wheels, a pulley system, and a few levers to make it work.

Programming the Basic Stamp Micro controller - We started a tutorial on how to use a Basic Stamp micro controller. Controlling outputs like lights and motors, sensing inputs from switches, and some fundamental programming concepts like condition statements and loops. Good stuff!