Monday, May 2, 2016

Seco Mines GT Engineering Science Fair






Seco Mines Elementary's GT students held their Engineering Science Fair Wednesday, April 13th, 2016. The 1st and 2nd grade GT students have been studying force and motion, so they presented wall marble mazes, a Keynote presentation and catapults.  

3rd and 4th grade studied Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion,  aerodynamics, force and motion, friction,  rolling resistance,  wheel and axle, car engineering and design.  
For their first car construction, the students had a $700 budget in which they could only use the items provided by the teacher which included mints, straws, Popsicle sticks, paper clips, and note cards. This car was tested on the floor, on a ramp, jumping from a ramps, and also tested for accidents. The cars had to roll without any resistance. 
For the second car, the GT students had to use recycled materials only. In addition to the aforementioned tests, they also had to make sure that the car could carry a marble without the marble flying out. This required the car to have to pass a safety test, which prompted the GT students to create some kind of a seat belt for the marble.

Lastly, the 5th and 6th grade GT students presented amusement park-type engineering and design. They had roller coasters, water slides, and  a Ferris wheel.  They all needed to be able to explain how their project worked using physics vocabulary terms.

The Seco Mines Elementary students and teachers truly enjoyed the presentations and projects.