AP
Physics prepares for takeoff
By: Lucas Blankenship
August 14, the AP Physics class started its
very first project: a 15-foot long paper airplane, which were required fly
unassisted for 20 feet.
“This project was inspired by Ms. Okes, who
took part in a scavenger hunt over the summer that required her to build
something similar to our airplanes,” said Joanna McKown, who is instructing the
class.
“I chose this project because it would be
something quick and hands-on to get the students started,” McKown added.
The students were split into pairs to
design, build, and fly their project airplanes. The design process is left
entirely to the students, who received their design inspiration from either
blueprints online or videos from YouTube.
Senior Brooke King said, “Design is very
difficult. We started on just a single piece of printer paper and scaled the
size up to three, four, and five pieces taped together.”
“Each team gets only one piece of the
15-foot paper to build, so they have to be confident in their design,” McKown
commented.
AP Physics received their MacBooks after the
project’s completetion.
“The Macs would have helped in the design
process. We wouldn’t have had to look at a small picture of a blueprint on our
phone. Also, a simulator program would have helped a lot because we could have
seen if a design would have worked or not before building a model,” said senior
Mikayla Shinn.
The physics class tested their airplanes on
Wednesday, August 19 on the football field. Senior Alyssa Bumpus and sophomore
Jed Westfall ended up with the farthest distance traveled. Their plane reached
the bottom of home-side bleachers.
McKown said to her class, “I did set you up
to fail because that is how you learn. Failure teaches you what not to do in
the future.”
The only requirement McKown gave her
students was that their plane had to be 15 feet in length. Some students found
a way around the length requirement, like senior Nolan Holley and junior Seth
Hall. Their plane had a tail that met the requirement without sacrificing the
width to length ratio.
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