By Tom Farmer, Editor • [email protected]Ohio all-girls school discovers the physics and the fun in CO 2 dragsters ROCKY RIVER, OH – Sure, CO 2 dragsters are cool. They’re fast, and they can help students understand the relationship among concepts such as mass, drag, and velocity. But here’s the real test: Can the sleek dragsters catch the attention of and build the knowledge base in a high school honors physics class – at an all-girls Catholic school, no less? Yes! Pitsco’s Science of Speed – as the CO 2 dragster activity is fast coming to be known – is a raging success with this new demographic if recent races at Bluestreak Motor Speedway inside Magnificat High School in Rocky River, Ohio, are an accurate barometer. Teacher Carolyn Wanzor has a reputation for challenging her advanced Honors Physics students, and she wanted to graduate from the mousetrap vehicles activity to something a bit more sophisticated with a wow factor. Aiding her mission was a donation from a local software executive. “He generously donated quite a bit of money to the Honors Physics program,” Wanzor said, adding, “I saw CO 2 cars, and I was like, ‘This is fun. How would I race it?’ . . . I Google searched ‘CO 2 -powered car tracks,’ and of course Pitsco was the first on the list.” Discovering Pitsco Education’s broad range of several hundred dragster components from custom wheels to a variety of car kits to wind tunnels, an elevated track, and start/finish systems, Wanzor knew she had discovered everything needed to give her students a complete, exciting, and highly educational experience. Her initial purchase included all the essentials to get started with CO 2 drag racing: the 65-foot FasTrak Elevated Racetrack, the Impulse G3 Race System, a Precut Dragster 32-Pack, and a case of 8-gram CO 2 cartridges. She explained her choice of precut dragsters (predrilled axle holes and rough-cut bodies) over the raw basswood or balsa wood blanks. “I got the precut dragsters because it’s not an engineering class. It’s not a class where we have power equipment, and we don’t have a wood shop here. I wanted to go with something that was a little more done,” Wanzor explained. The precut dragsters don’t require much shaping beyond basic sanding and smoothing, but they do allow for custom design and decorating – much to the delight of the 60 high school girls involved in the activity. “There’s going to be an aesthetics element to this as well, of course. This is an all-girls school,” Wanzor said. “We have a collaboration with American Greetings, which has its world headquarters in (nearby) Cleveland. They’re going to judge the girls’ cars on aesthetics.” ‘Ladies, start your engines’ 4 The Pitsco Network
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By Tom Farmer, Editor • ‘Ladies, start your engines’
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Ohio all-girls school discovers the physics and the fun in CO
2 dragsters
ROCKY RIVER, OH – Sure, CO2 dragsters are cool. They’re fast, and
they can help students understand the relationship among concepts such as mass, drag, and velocity. But here’s the real test: Can the sleek dragsters catch the attention of and build the knowledge base in a high school honors physics class – at an all-girls Catholic school, no less?
Yes! Pitsco’s Science of Speed – as the CO2 dragster activity is fast
coming to be known – is a raging success with this new demographic if recent races at Bluestreak Motor Speedway inside Magnificat High School in Rocky River, Ohio, are an accurate barometer.
Teacher Carolyn Wanzor has a reputation for challenging her advanced Honors Physics students, and she wanted to graduate from the mousetrap vehicles activity to something a bit more sophisticated with a wow factor.
Aiding her mission was a donation from a local software executive. “He generously donated quite a bit of money to the Honors Physics program,” Wanzor said, adding, “I saw CO
2 cars, and I was like, ‘This
is fun. How would I race it?’ . . . I Google searched ‘CO2-powered car
tracks,’ and of course Pitsco was the first on the list.”
Discovering Pitsco Education’s broad range of several hundred
dragster components from custom wheels to a variety of car kits to
wind tunnels, an elevated track, and start/finish systems, Wanzor knew
she had discovered everything needed to give her students a
complete, exciting, and highly educational experience.
Her initial purchase included all the essentials to get started with CO2
drag racing: the 65-foot FasTrak Elevated Racetrack, the Impulse G3 Race
System, a Precut Dragster 32-Pack, and a case of 8-gram CO2 cartridges.
She explained her choice of precut dragsters (predrilled axle holes and
rough-cut bodies) over the raw basswood or balsa wood blanks.
“I got the precut dragsters because it’s not an engineering class.
It’s not a class where we have power equipment, and we don’t have a
wood shop here. I wanted to go with something that was a little more
done,” Wanzor explained.
The precut dragsters don’t require much shaping beyond basic sanding
and smoothing, but they do allow for custom design and decorating –
much to the delight of the 60 high school girls involved in the activity.
“There’s going to be an aesthetics element to this as well, of course.
This is an all-girls school,” Wanzor said. “We have a collaboration with
American Greetings, which has its world headquarters in (nearby)
Cleveland. They’re going to judge the girls’ cars on aesthetics.”
‘Ladies, start your engines’
4 The Pitsco Network
Even though the girls were excited about challenging for the title of fastest car, the more coveted crown might be “most cool and creative car.” “They love to make things pretty,” Wanzor said. “I just wanted to make it something where, yes, it needs to go fast, but it needs to look good as well. Presentation, presentation, presentation. Mags just does everything up like that.”
The aesthetics judging by some of the greeting card company’s talented artists was scheduled to take
place in December, but the big race day was held in early October in a spacious lobby outside
Magnificat’s performing arts center – a full-fledged
extravaganza replete with race officials, a bracket showing head-to-head performances, concessions for the fans, and plenty of heart-pumping excitement.
“It was a blast and went over exceptionally well,” Wanzor said. “Even two local newspapers came in with reporters to cover the event!”
By going all out and following some of the race day suggestions outlined in Pitsco’s Science of Speed teacher’s guide for the full-fledged STEM dragster activity, Wanzor and her students put on an event that has the makings of an annual or even semiannual affair. Maybe it’ll never grow as large as that other race over at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but on the education racing circuit, Bluestreak Motor Speedway is well on its way to becoming a featured venue.
Physics sounds intimidating enough. But honors physics? Just the name would strike fear into the mind of the average high school student. So, it’s important to find exciting and engaging activities that make honors physics approachable and educational at the same time.
The CO2 dragsters activity – the Science
of Speed, in Pitsco parlance – serves exactly that purpose in Carolyn Wanzor’s classroom at Magnificat High School in Rocky River, OH. She propelled herself headfirst into this new activity during Fall 2015 in hopes that she could refer back to it later in the school year as new physics concepts are introduced.
“When we talk about Newton’s laws of motion in about a month and action-reaction, I’m going to tie in, ‘Remember the car,’”
Wanzor said. “When we get into potential and
kinetic energy, when we talk about drag and
coefficient of friction, I feel like I can circle
back around a number of times throughout
the year. . . . I feel like there’s a lot of practical
application with these cars.”
After her students experienced a Day at
the Races culminating event, she asked them
to talk about what they had learned. Among
their responses:
• “Newton’s third law of motion was
clearly shown when the CO2 cartridge
got punctured.”
• “I totally understand how aerodynamics and
mass work toward making a car travel faster.”
• “The excitement of the event – it brought
hands-on fun to a bunch of kinematic equations that we have been studying.”
• “I loved the poof of vapor and the sound of the cars blasting out of the gate.”
• “I love science, and anytime the teacher can teach a lesson and then show us something that we get to participate in is such a rewarding experience.”
• “Lectures are good and necessary, but this race was so fun and demonstrated so many of the physics concepts we’ve learned and will learn.”
• “I like to see the real-world practical application of doing actual calculations on things now and then rather than always doing a worksheet.”
Academically rich CO2 dragsters
Although speed was important, the more coveted crown at Bluestreak Motor Speedway might have been “most cool and creative car.” Even a Popemobile, below, was among the racing entries crafted by Honors Physics students at the all-girls school.
It’s not every day we get the chance to inspire others – to take what we know and use it to build or create a walking, talking testament to what can be achieved.
Recently, Team CLUTCH, an all-girls robotics team at Saint Gertrude High School in Richmond, Virginia, got to do just that
when they were commissioned by the Girls’ Lounge’s CEO and Founder Shelley Zalis to build a girlbot that could speak, hand out business cards, and fit into a suitcase.
The team, consisting of senior Caitlin Kelly (a homeschooled, affiliate member of the team), juniors Molly Powers and Martha Anne Hotinger, and Maddie Crown (now graduated), jumped at the challenge. “There was no hesitation for accepting the challenge of building a girlbot,” said Powers, who met with Zalis in the summer of 2015 and accepted the challenge on the team’s behalf. “It sounded like an amazing opportunity, and I jumped straight for it,” she said. “I was just hoping the team would be interested. And, thankfully, they were!”
GETTING REALThe members of Team CLUTCH might not have had any reservations
about Zalis’ challenge, but their coach, Jeremy Watts, certainly did. “At the beginning of the project, the girls were so excited at the
opportunity,” he said, “but I knew they were not considering all the responsibilities necessary for the project to be a success.”
Fortunately, Watts’ fears were quickly relieved. “After the entire scope of the project was clear in their minds, they produced as well as any professional team would,” he said.
The entire project scope, which included meeting design specifications; creating and presenting a budget; submitting draft options of the aesthetics; tracking parts, tools, and inventory; and coordinating everything on a tight schedule, was no small feat.
GETTING CREATIVE WITH TETRIX®The creation of this new girlbot is a great example of the versatility
of the TETRIX® Building System. As an FTC® robotics squad, Team CLUTCH was used to working from a kit and within a certain set
ROBOTICS
Get to know EllieThe creation of Ellie is a powerful message about what young minds can do when given the right tools and encouragement. Visit tinyurl.com/jez3x87 for more news about Ellie.
Team CLUTCH showing off their 2015-16 competition robot, along with Ellie, for the yearbook. From left: Kat Fortner, Julia Nichols, Jazz Adams, Melissa Dolfi, Coach Jeremy Watts, Kate Sanders, Katie Centofanti, Alex Owens, Martha Anne Hotinger, and Molly Powers.
Inset: Team Antipodes, 2012 FTC® Robot Design World Champions, left to right, Violet Replicon, Kjersti Chippindale , Emma Filar, and Ken Filar (coach). At left, Kjersti Chippindale prepares a TETRIX® robot for FTC.
8 The Pitsco Network
A pair of Pacifica, CA, FIRST® Tech Challenge teams – Team Antipodes and Terra Nova Robotics – used the TETRIX® MAX Building System to create their robots. Indeed, the current Terra Nova Robotics team, the Basilisks, still build with TETRIX MAX.
“TETRIX was fun in that it forced you to think outside of the box,” says former team member Kjersti Chippindale, “but it was also very helpful for teaching basics about engineering and construction. You can learn a lot about structural integrity from putting together a basic frame with a TETRIX kit. . . . Every year the TETRIX kit has improved, which is awesome.”
To learn more about TETRIX MAX and how you can use it to get a leg – or servo – up on the competition, visit www.tetrixrobotics.com.
Teaming up with TETRIX®
LEARNING TO FAILOne of the most valuable lessons any team – indeed,
any person – can learn is what Kjersti calls the art of failing.
“I think that the art of failing is . . . appreciating all aspects
of an idea or solution and learning from that idea before
moving on. Failing the right way forces one to think critically,
which is a great skill to learn no matter what. If you can
fail and recover in robotics, then you can fail in just about
anything and know how to pick yourself back up and
approach the situation from a different perspective.”
Kjersti experienced her first failure in robotics on that
initial FLL team. “We didn’t know each other very well,” she says, “and therefore felt
uncomfortable effectively critiquing ideas during brainstorming sessions.” Despite
winning the Design Award in the only tournament the team entered, they also
finished last in performance.
But in that failure, there were lessons to be learned. “When we started our
new team,” Kjersti explains, “I knew I could draw from that experience to make us
stronger.” The three team members worked on getting to know one another and
bonding so they could critique and brainstorm without repercussion. “After this was
established, failures in all other parts of robotics were easier to learn and recover
from. We took full responsibility for what we put out because we knew that we had
tried our hardest, and we were content with that if nothing else.”
HANDING DOWN THE LESSONS LEARNEDWhile Team Antipodes was an exciting, successful adventure for Kjersti and her
teammates, toward the end of their junior year they felt a need to pass the torch.
“Going into senior year, I began to recognize how much robotics had done for me,
how much I had learned, and how much my work ethic had changed,” says Kjersti,
“and I was immensely grateful for it.”
Working with their coach, the girls recruited enough younger team members to
eventually create two new teams. Both teams did well, and one even made it back to
the World Championship. The teams have since condensed back down to one team:
Terra Nova Robotics. “I am immensely proud of the students who competed and are still
competing,” says Kjersti. “I visit the team as often as I can when I go back home.”
Top: The Lemon Drops (2012-2014), one of two teams mentored by Kjersti and Violet. Middle: Team Antipodes’ success drew a lot of attention. Bottom: Creative designs such as this TETRIX creation helped Team Antipodes become 2012 FTC Design World Champs.
February-March 2015 9
Some well-known names of past TSA competitors echo in the hallways of Southeast High School in Florida. It looks like the name of the 2015 TSA Dragster Design winner’s name might soon join them – and that’s part of her motivation.
“Everyone talks about Ahmad (Hares). Everyone talks about Mark Nanny. ‘They were great, they won, they did this,’” said Merritt Kendzior from Southeast High School. “I want to be one of those names that in a few years some kid hears, ‘Oh, yeah, you gotta be like Merritt.’ I want to inspire people that have an interest to be good to get in and to have this kind of passion for this competition.”
At the 2015 TSA National Conference this summer in Dallas, Texas, the sophomore took her second gold in Dragster Design at the high school level. She also won it one time in middle school. This year, Merritt’s dark, flame-covered dragster smoked the competition based on the race time, drawings, and more. Yet she remains humble about why she wins.
“I’ve been doing it since seventh grade, so I’ve had a little experience with car design. It was just the car. I don’t know – it was just luck,” she said, shrugging. “I enjoy winning, but I love learning more . . . . Even here talking to the other competitors, they might know something you don’t. Getting to know the different competitors and the other TSA events – learning new things – that’s how you move forward in life.
“I think that’s what I enjoy, and winning is just an added bonus.”And she is willing to share her own knowledge with others – to a degree.“If they ask and talk with me, I’m willing to share some things,” she said.
“Not everything – I want to keep some things under wraps – but I like seeing other people succeed. I like helping them get better. I want to help them get better and improve the level of competition, especially in this event.”
Merritt became interested in building cars after a soapbox derby car event she participated in when younger. That year, she learned how to use the CNC mill, and it piqued her interest in creating dragsters with the technology. Her winning cars are designed in a CAD program and cut out on a CNC mill, which she says provides excellent symmetry.
“When hand-doing it, you have to come up with the design almost as you go. You can sketch it out, but if something happens you have to be on the fly to fix it. Whereas with CNC, you can design it, make changes, mill it again,” she said, adding that there is value in learning how to do it the old school way. “I think you should always hand-build a car before you CNC mill because you learn that appreciation of getting to know how to use all these tools, getting to know the materials that you’re working with, and the car itself.”
Though some might be surprised to see a girl caught in designing dragsters, Merritt sees it differently.
“I’ve never viewed it as a guy or girl thing. I know I get some criticism with me being a girl, and it’s kind of different to a lot of people, but it’s never affected me personally. I love engineering. I didn’t grow up playing with Barbie dolls. I grew up building things. It’s what I’m used to.”
At the Florida TSA state event this year, she participated in at least five events ranging from Children’s Stories to Transportation Modeling, which she also competed in at Nationals. She said the modeling event gives her more skills to take into a career.
“With that event, you’re learning how to do clay model mockups and things like that, so you’re learning this design process that they actually use in the industry,” she said. “One day if I want to design an actual car, I’m going to have to mock it up, I’m going to have to do concept sketches.”
Merritt would like to eventually become an engineer for Formula 1
racing. Before that, however, she wants to keep striking dragster gold.
“I want to have my set of cars at the end. If I was allowed to do it in
college, I’d do it in college. It’s so much fun.”
MERRITT’S DRAGSTER TIME LINE:• 2015: 1st in Dragster Design HS (1.037 sec) and 5th in
Transportation Modeling HS
• 2014: 1st in Dragster Design HS (0.907 sec)
• 2013: 3rd in Dragster Design MS (0.905 sec)
• 2012: 1st in Dragster Design MS (0.892 sec)
Ahmad Hares, right, and his teacher/mentor Richard Platt of Southeast High School in Bradenton, FL
(continued page 28)
October-November 2015 7
The doors to certain careers were not always open to girls
R obert Purnell tells a story to his students every semester. It’s intended for the girls in his Modules
lab, and though the need for it has lessened through the years, it will always be important – if only for its historical significance – a reminder of the way things used to be.
Nearly 40 years ago, when Purnell’s wife wanted to take a drafting course in school, she was told, “It’s for boys.” She and her dad went to the school board, which eventually conceded that she could take the class. Purnell doesn’t miss an opportunity to share the story.
“I say, ‘Girls, you can do anything you want,’” Purnell says. “Thirty or 40 years ago, you couldn’t become an architect, but that’s not the case now.”
The Pitsco Education Modules lab that Purnell facilitates at Yorba Linda Middle School further chips away at the “math, science, and engineering are for boys”
mentality. Girls disassemble a gas-powered engine, build a bridge, design and build a race car, learn CAD software, and build a variety of simple machines, among other activities in the lab.
The scheduling software doesn’t know whether it’s assigning a girl or a boy to the Robotics Module, and curriculum instructions are written with no particular gender in mind.
“When I came home from school, I told my mom I could do CAD,” said Justine, a seventh grade girl. “I thought it would be confusing at first, but now it’s pretty easy.”
Purnell goes another step further when he talks to his classes about his daughter, Lauren, who is a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. “I show them a picture. ‘OK, girls, this is my daughter. She’s a pilot. She flies for Delta and she flies for the Air Force. I say, ‘You can do anything you want.’”
A supportive principalPurnell has been facilitating the lab
for eight years and has been fortunate to enjoy strong support from his administration along the way. First-year Principal James Hardin is no exception. He recognizes the career enrichment and academic benefits inherent in the Modules
program, and he’s looking forward to the lab being updated to Synergy sometime during the next few months.
“Students are thinking, collaborating, brainstorming. They’re active,” Hardin said. “It’s not just sitting at a desk taking notes, listening to a lecture. They’re engaged. They’re learning. They’re developing. They’re actively learning. That’s huge.”
A lesson to remember
Facilitator Robert Purnell points to his daughter, Lauren, as an example that girls can do anything they want. Below, Lauren is flanked by her parents in the cockpit of a jet she piloted. Bottom left, two girls operate the robot at the Robotics Module. Bottom right, Purnell explains how students should cut out their CO2 dragsters.