Union City Middle School students completed their first physics unit on motion and forces with “The Great Race” theme. The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) unit in Beverly Dones’ eighth-grade science class focused on inertia, force, velocity, acceleration, speed, distance and time.
Dones paired her class into teams and assigned them to demonstrate their knowledge by building race cars from plastic water bottles they were allowed to bring from home, according to a news release from Union City Schools.
“You should have seen their faces when I told them their homework assignment was to drink a bottle of water, then bring the empty container and the cap to class,” said Dones. “Instantly, the questions started to surface, and the curiosity piqued. I truly love science, and I enjoy challenging students to think outside of the box — yet be creative with some items they may use each day.”
Dones supplied wooden skewers, balloons, straws, tape and the ramp, which was angled at 30 degrees, 45 degrees and 60 degrees. The research, engineering, design and creativity was left to the students to complete in 2 ½ days.
Cars were judged on mobility, research/data collection and following Newton’s First 3 Laws of Motion.
“Overall, the designs were innovative, and the cars were functional,” Dones said. “Although some were disappointed about their cars not working, they were reminded that many scientists face the dilemma of their ideas being unsuccessful on a daily basis. It is wonderful when something works the first time; however, real science is in troubleshooting and discovering.”
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